Ad Complaints Down 11% In 1997

The Advertising Standards Authority’s 1997 Annual Report, published today, reveals that the number of ad complaints has fallen for the second consecutive year. Complaints dropped by 11% from 12,055 in 1996 to 10,678 in 1997. After investigation, 512 ads were found to break the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion, which is nearly 30% less than in 1996.

The report also said that ten ads accounted for nearly one sixth of the 3,324 complaints investigated during the year. In three cases, complaints were made, or generated by, special interest groups with opposing views to those of the advertisers.

The advert which drew the most complaints, 94, was Saatchi & Saatchi’s campaign for the Gun Control Network which contained the slogan “A .22 Handgun Makes The Same Size Hole As A Magnum” next to a picture of an open grave. Number two in the complaints top ten was the Lee jeans ad from Grey, which featured a woman’s foot resting on the buttocks of a naked man with the strapline “Put the Boot In”, which drew 89 complaints. A campaign from the Vegetarian Society meanwhile, which focused on the alleged link between eating meet and cancer, attracted 65 complaints.

ASA: 0171 580 5555