Complaints received and resolved
A total of 12,711 complaints were received during the year about 10,062 advertisements. Complaints fell 10.9% compared with 2003 and the respective number of ads complained about fell by 6.2%. One explanation for part of this drop is that few advertisements generated large numbers of complaints: eight of the top 10 most complained about campaigns received fewer than 100 objections. The ratio of advertisements to complaints supports this; at 1:1.26 it is one of the lowest recorded.

The number of ads investigated by the Executive increased by 4.5% to 1,687 of which 827 were subject to a formal investigation by the ASA Council. For the first time, more cases were resolved informally, with advertisers agreeing to withdraw or amend 860 advertisements without the need for a Council adjudication. Informal resolution of complaints is usually quicker and more straightforward than a formal investigation.

Of the advertisements that were subject to the formal procedure, 634 received an ‘upheld’ adjudication – a total of 77% of all formally investigated cases.

In line with the drop in the total number of complaints received, the number of complaints not investigated also fell, by 4.5% to 9,638. However the complementary number of ads not investigated fell by a smaller margin (1%) to 8,405.

The number of complaints where an investigation was judged to be not justified fell by nearly a quarter to 1,748. ‘Not justified’ means the Council decided that the Code has not been breached and that further investigation is not required. This outcome is most common where complaints about offensiveness are matters of judgement. Of the total complaints received in the year, 2,114 were judged to be outside of the ASA’s remit and, where possible, the complainant was referred to another organisation.

The ASA Executive resolved 13,078 complaints during the year (including outstanding complaints carried over from 2003), a fall of 6.9% on the year before. Only 797 cases were left unresolved at the end of the year compared with 1,164 cases outstanding from 2003.

Most complained about campaigns
The most complained about campaigns of 2004 led to 1,092 complaints, or 8.5% of the total received during the year. This compares with the 1,623 complaints received about 2003’s ‘top 10’. Of the 11 ads involved in the 10 campaigns, seven were subject to a formal investigation, and, of these, six received upheld rulings (compared with two of the top 10 in 2003).

Reasons for complaint
Complaints about taste and decency fell by nearly a quarter (23%), to 2,841, compared with 3,705 in 2003. There was a smaller fall in complaints involving truthfulness which declined by only 8% (2,680 in 2003 to 2,472).

Complaints by sector
A quarter of all complaints received by the ASA were about leisure advertising, although the total number of complaints (3,343) about this category fell by 15% on the previous year. Together with the other three most complained about sectors – computers and telecoms, health and beauty and holidays and travel – this represents over half (53%) of all the complaints received. Complaints about food and drink and alcohol fell significantly during the year (by 40% and 37% respectively), as did complaints about the non-commercial sector where 506 fewer objections were received.

Complaints by media
National press advertising generated more objections than any other media (2,270 complaints) with six of the ten most complained about campaigns including press advertising. However, this figure represents a 2.4% drop in complaints year on year.

Complaints Figures
	2004		2003
	Complaints	Ads complained about	Complaints	Ads complained about
Work brought forward	1,164	888	934	689
New work received in year	12,711	10,062	14,270	10,724
Total work considered	13,875	10,950	15,204	11,413
Formally investigated upheld	1,705	634	1,855	581
Formally investigated not upheld	435	193	755	233
Total formals	2,140	827	2,610	814
Resolved informally	962	860	909	800
Total investigated	3,102	1,687	3,519	1,614
No case to answer	4,459	4,439	4,078	4,039
Withdrawn	1,317	1,302	1,608	1,554
Outside remit	2,114	2,083	2,117	2,117
Not justified	1,748	581	2,290	773
Total not investigated	9,638	8,405	10,093	8,483
Mail order	129	129	156	156
Database	209	209	272	272
Total direct marketing	338	338	428	428
Work resolved	13,078	10,430	14,040	10,525
Work outstanding at year-end	797	520	1,164	888

Bigger declines were recorded in the second and third most complained about media, with complaints about direct mail falling by 11.7% to 2,228 and objections to posters falling by 18.7% to 1,820 – the second year that complaints in this category have declined substantially. In the other direction, complaints about online advertising continued to rise and there was a sizeable increase in the number of complaints recorded in transport advertising, albeit from a low base.

Source of complaints
The proportion of industry complaints rose for the first time in two years to 9% of the total. However these led to fewer formal investigations – 24% of the total compared with 31% in 2003.

Complaints resolved by sector
	2004	2003
Leisure	3,343	3,929
Computers and telecommunications	1,322	1,579
Health and beauty	1,282	887
Holidays and travel	954	1,287
Retail	759	539
Non-commercial	659	1,165
Financial	628	609
Publishing	622	408
Business	614	395
Motoring	578	614
Household	447	452
Clothing	305	337
Food and drink	292	489
Property	240	147
Employment	212	210
Utilities	194	119
Not specified	183	302
Alcohol	144	230
Industrial and engineering	101	85
Electrical appliances	74	100
Education	67	64
Agricultural	27	35
Tobacco	17	30
Unknown	14	28
Total	13,078	14,040

Complaints resolved by media type
	2004	2003
National press	2,270	2,326
Direct mail	2,228	2,523
Poster	1,820	2,239
Internet	1,265	1,100
Magazine	1,036	1,200
Regional press	889	874
Leaflet	836	888
E-mail	405	456
Unknown	403	584
Brochure	309	311
Text message	225	393
Catalogue	217	150
Point of sale	214	174
Insert	175	84
Circular	165	70
Packaging	162	128
Transport	162	34
Directory	130	152
Press general	117	168
Other	103	102
Mailing	98	97
Cinema	84	96
Facsimile	76	68
Electronic	41	59
Ambient	21	31
Voicemail	16	6
Video	2	3
Computer games	1	0

Areas of complaints in 2004
	All complaints	Ads complained about
Legality	78	35
Decency	2,841	635
Honesty	548	308
Truthfulness	2,472	1,802
Substantiation	1,478	1,047
Comparisons	250	192
Denigration	70	54
Imitation	12	12
Matters of opinion	148	74
Fear and distress	518	167
Safety	205	74
Violence and anti-social behaviour	548	83
Political advertising	18	12
Protection of privacy	86	24
Testimonials and endorsements	74	62
Free offers	126	89
Availability of products	77	70
Guarantees	35	31
Identifying advertisers and recognising advertisements	157	66
Prices	333	232