TORONTO – The Advertising Standards Canada (ASC) received 1,119 complaints from consumers in 2008, down 23% from the 1,445 complaints that it received in 2007.
The national advertising industry self-regulatory body administers the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards, the principal instrument of advertising self-regulation in Canada, and accepts complaints from consumers about advertising.
Of the 1,119 complaints received last year, 801 met the criteria for acceptance under the Code, while the remaining 318 could not be pursued because they did not fall within the Code’s criteria.
The retail advertising category garnered the highest number of complaints for the fourth consecutive year, with 154. Food/supermarkets and the automotive categories tied for second place with 108 complaints each, followed by service with 99 complaints, government/not-for-profit with 82, personal and proprietary with 68, recreation and entertainment with 49, finance with 29 and travel/accommodation with 27.
Advertising on television generated the highest number of complaints with 528 (or 47%), and for the second year in a row, advertising on the Internet came in second place with 155 complaints (14%). Advertising in the out-of-home medium, including billboard and transit advertising, took third place with 99, or 9% of complaints, while newspapers, flyers, radio, magazine, direct marketing and point-of-sale made up the remaining media.
"From the complaints submitted to ASC in 2008, it appears that consumers are scrutinizing advertising – particularly retail advertising – with an increasingly critical eye”, said Janet Feasby, vice president of standards, in the announcement. “More than ever before, consumers cited concerns about advertisements that contained pricing errors, omitted relevant information, or lacked clarity."
