Mailshot gripes soar but influencers still real villains

The ad watchdog witnessed a whopping 158% increase in complaints about direct mail last year, as well as a 26% rise in gripes over leaflets and brochures, although online and TV ads still dominate the hall of advertising shame.

The Advertising Standards Authority and the Committee of Advertising Practice annual report for 2022, reveals the total number of complaints was down 11% on 2021, with 18,430 compared to 20,735, but the number of individual cases has remained virtually unchanged (14,683 compared to 14,558).

While the report does not detail which campaigns fell foul of the rules, there were a total of 518 complaints about direct mail, compared to 205 in 2021, while leaflets and brochures hit 454 gripes, compared to 362 last year.

But by far the biggest culprit was online advertising (18,430 compared to 20,735) and TV ads (11,381 compared to 20,425), with 5,318 complaints against influencers alone. Some 4,044 of these complaints were subsequently classed as actual cases. Complaints for this sector are up by 9% from the previous year (2021).

The ASA has already named and shamed a number of influencers, including former Geordie Shore stars Charlotte Crosby (pictured) and Scott Timlin and Love Island winner Amber Gill for repeatedly failing to flag ads on Instagram. Overall, 84.8% of all cases managed in England were successfully solved.

In a statement, the ASA said: “This report highlights how we’re exploring future-proofing our system through the Intermediary and Platform Principles pilot, working with the world’s biggest online ad supply businesses to promote the Advertising Code and improve enforcement. And we’re rapidly growing our data science team and using AI to meet the challenge of monitoring online ads.

“We’ve undertaken proactive projects that tackle big issues: ads mis-targeted at children; unevidenced green claims; irresponsible crypto ads; and hidden influencer ads. All of which, in the last year, have seen us introduce or prepare new rules and guidance on environmental claims and ‘greenwashing’, online ad-targeting, gambling, telecoms pricing, body image and alcohol alternatives.

“We continued to monitor children’s exposure to age-restricted ads across media, with our 100 Children Report providing rich insights into children’s exposure to alcohol and gambling ads online. Investigations, research, monitoring, guidance and training, as well as partnership working with other regulators, is also helping us tackle misleading or socially irresponsible green claims.

“Multiple priority investigations led to rulings which set out new boundaries for cryptocurrency ads, followed by our Enforcement Notice to crypto firms, requiring ads to include risk warnings and to have greater regard to vulnerable members of the audience. And machine learning helped us to identify, and take action against, influencers and brands who broke the rules by not disclosing when their posts were ads.”

ASA chief executive Guy Parker said: “Responsiveness to change is as important today as it was when the ASA was formed in 1962. We’ve had to be agile and evolve in light of huge legal, societal and technological changes during that time – protecting people, providing a level playing field for responsible businesses and working collectively with other regulators and industry.

“The ‘one-stop shop’ ASA system, with the independent ASA at its heart, provides clear benefits to the public, businesses and society. With the pace of change accelerating, we remain focused on ensuring ads continue to be legal, decent, honest and truthful in the years ahead.”