Watchdog reports 71% increase in number of adverts complained about

ASA published its annual report (51-page / 3.92MB PDF) for 2011 and reported that it had received 31,458 complaints about 22,397 different adverts during the calendar year. This marked a 71% rise in the number of individual adverts it received complaints about during 2010, and resulted in a record 4,591 ads being changed or withdrawn, it said. In 2010 ASA received 25,214 complaints about 13,074 ads and its action led to 2,226 ads being changed or withdrawn.

More than 7,000 complaints were made between March and the end of December last year about adverts displayed on the internet, ASA said. In March 2011 the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) introduced amendments to its CAP Code to expand the number of mediums through which ads would be subject to the CAP Code rules. The changes meant that ads that appear on company websites and social networking accounts must comply with the Code. ASA is responsible for overseeing compliance with the Code.

"The new remit plugs a regulatory gap, providing more comprehensive consumer protection online," ASA said in its annual report. "Before, the ASA had to reject several thousand complaints leaving the public confused about why we could take action across other media but could do nothing when the same claims appeared on advertisers’ own websites."

"The impact of the change in regulation was immediate, as demonstrated with our upheld ruling against T-Mobile, whose claim to provide ‘Truly unlimited internet’ was banned not only on their poster and press ads, but also on their own website."

"In the first ten months, we received 7,195 online remit complaints about 6,631 cases," ASA said. "Online remit cases comprised 29% of all cases recieved (sic) – higher than our forecasted level – and contributing to a 71% increase in cases overall, with only a 15% increase in staff."

Under the revised CAP Code "advertisements and other marketing communications by or from companies, organisations or sole traders on their own websites, or in other non-paid-for space online under their control, that are directly connected with the supply or transfer of goods, services, opportunities and gifts, or which consist of direct solicitations of donations as part of their own fund-raising activities" are now subject to the Code's rules.

The term "non-paid-for space online under [the advertiser's] control" covers advertisements and other marketing communications on advertiser-controlled pages on social networking websites.

Previously the CAP Code had applied to ads in print, on posters and in emails, text messages and in paid-for-space, such as banner and pop-up ads or keyword advertising on search engines.

The underlying principles of the CAP Code require that all marketing is fair, legal, decent, honest and truthful. Adverts that are misleading or that may cause widespread offence are prohibited.

ASA said that during 2011 nearly 80% of cases it dealt with were about misleading advertising and 20% about harm and offence.

Since being formed in 1962 ASA has received approximately 431,100 complaints, it said. The most complained about advert was for a TV ad for fast-food outlet KFC in 2005 when 1,671 complaints were made, many taking issuing with people singing with their mouths full in the advert. However, ASA said it had not upheld the complaint because, "although not to everyone’s taste, we thought it was unlikely to change children’s behaviour or undermine parental authority."