TORONTO – Led by gripes about the non-commercial advertising sector, Canadians lodged more complaints with Ad Standards than in any year over the past two decades.
In its annual Ad Complaints Report, Ad Standards said that it received a record 2,005 complaints from consumers about 1,205 advertisements in 2018, a jump from the 1,808 complaints about 1,322 ads that it received in the previous year.
Of the 1,252 complaints that met the criteria for acceptance under the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards, the majority (771) did not in fact raise issues under the Code and were not further investigated after the initial review, reads the report. The remaining 481 complaints were found to have merit and were either forwarded to Councils for adjudication (356) or administratively resolved by staff (125). The independent Councils adjudicated 356 complaints about 63 advertisements, and of these, 323 complaints were upheld about 35 advertisements.
For the second year in a row, Ad Standards received the highest number of complaints about advertising by non-commercial entities, with 540 complaints. Of these, 470 complaints were submitted about advocacy advertising, particularly advertising that consumers found to be misleading and/or derogatory to women sponsored by pro-life organizations. Retail advertising, the category that traditionally generates the highest number of complaints, was second with 245 complaints, followed by advertising in the leisure services category (including bars and restaurants, hotels/accommodation, and entertainment) with 232 complaints. The telecommunications products and services sector generated 77 complaints, continued the report.
“Along with the record number of total complaints, Ad Standards received a record number (849) of complaints alleging that particular advertisements were misleading and inaccurate under Clause 1 (accuracy and clarity)”, the report added. “This can be attributed to the large volume of complaints submitted about allegedly misleading advertising by non-commercial organizations. Today’s consumers are knowledgeable and skeptical, and will not hesitate to let Ad Standards know if they believe claims in advertising cannot be substantiated and are misleading.”
As usual, advertising on television, with 708 complaints, garnered the highest number of complaints of any medium. Advertising on billboards, in transit, and other out-of-home media generated the second highest number of complaints with 473, followed by digital advertising, which includes advertising on advertiser-owned websites, display advertisements and email advertising messages, which accounted for 270 complaints. Radio generated 194 complaints.
Ad Standards is Canada’s national, not-for-profit, advertising self-regulatory body.
