Top brands sign up as ASA bolsters awareness campaign

The Advertising Standards Authority is launching a new burst if its awareness campaign, backed by Churchill, Compare the Market, Marmite and Tesco, as it steps up its activity to protect and build public trust in advertising.

The campaign will run for eight weeks across TV, digital channels, out-of-home sites, radio, cinema, press and magazines. Brand partners have once again lent their straplines to the activity creative by Leith, with media planning by WPP Media’s EssenceMediacom.

There are two key new additions to the media owners supporting the campaign this year. Netflix will run the 30-second spot on its ad-supported plan and Waitrose will feature a bespoke ASA ad in the Your Week In Food newspaper given out in stores.

The campaign aims to increase public awareness of the advertising regulator and reassure consumers that ads are regulated across all media. In 2025, the ASA resolved over 40,000 complaints about 25,397 ads, resulting in 22,383 ads being amended or removed. Its AI-powered Active Ad Monitoring system processed 60 million ads, allowing the regulator to proactively identify and tackle issues in high-priority areas.

ASA director of complaints and investigations Miles Lockwood said: “Advertising is part of everyday life, so it’s important people know we’re working to make sure ads are legal, decent, honest and truthful.

“This campaign plays a vital role in helping raise awareness of the ASA and our role in making sure ads are responsible, which in turn helps build trust in the advertising people see. We’re hugely grateful to the brands and media owners supporting the campaign again this year and particularly pleased to welcome some new partners on board.”

Since the campaign began in 2022, public trust in advertising has risen from 30% to a five-year high of 40% in 2025 – but the recovery remains fragile.

To help continue to drive the upwards trend, in July, the Advertising Association launched its new industry Trust Action Plan, with Action 1 calling on the industry to “scale up the ASA public awareness campaign”. The activity has a proven effect on whether people trust the advertising they see, with people who have seen or heard the campaign ads being twice as likely to trust ads as those who have not.

Organisations that have committed to supporting the campaign with donated inventory also include Acast, Actual Radio, Alight Media, Bauer Media Group, Bauer Media Outdoor, Channel 4, Digital Cinema Media, Google, ITV, London Evening Standard, MediaForce, Media Smart, Meta, Mail Metro Media, News UK, NextGen Media, Ocean Outdoor, Pearl & Dean, Pinterest, Reach, Snap Inc, Sky, Spotify, STV, STV Radio, Telegraph Media Group, Tesco.com, TikTok, and UK Community Radio Network.

Advertising Association chief executive Stephen Woodford said: “In our centenary year, where we are doubling down on the importance of building trust in advertising. The ASA awareness campaign is a key driver of public trust, so it is fantastic to see the industry pulling together to support Action 1 of our latest Trust Action Plan and scale up the ASA campaign. We can’t thank the media owners enough, many of whom have significantly increased their donations, alongside Leith and WPP Media’s EssenceMediacom who kindly donate their time and expertise.”

Compare the Market chief customer officer Tom Wallis concluded: “Our purpose is to help make great financial decision making a breeze for everyone, so customers are at the heart of everything we do at Compare the Market. We’re delighted to lend our much-loved meerkat Aleksandr to the ASAs latest campaign, helping to deliver the important message that advertising is a regulated industry.”

Top brands sign up as ASA bolsters awareness campaign

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