The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland’s (ASAI) independent Complaints Committee has released its latest Complaints Bulletin, which contains 9 case reports on complaints recently investigated by the organisation.
3 of the 9 advertisements were found to have been in full breach of the ASAI Code. 1 of the 9 advertisements was found to have been partly in breach. The 4 advertisements were found to be in breach of the ASAI Code on grounds related to Misleading / Substantiation, Recognisability and Pricing.
The advertisements complained of related to Radio, Online (Influencer’s social media account), Social Media (Advertiser’s own page), Internet (company own website), Online (3rd party website), and Television. The ASAI Complaints Committee chose not to uphold five consumer complaints.
The Complaints Committee is a completely independent arm of the ASAI and is responsible for considering and adjudicating on complaints submitted by the public, by an organisation, by a Government Department, or any other person or body. The Committee is made up of a range of experts from the advertising, media, education, consumer, and marketing sectors.
See further details here.
Commenting on the latest ASAI rulings, Orla Twomey, Chief Executive of the ASAI, stated:
“The latest complaints bulletin from the ASAI illustrates our ability to handle complaints across a variety of platforms, and demonstrates how we ensure that ads in Ireland stick to the advertising rules," said Orla Twomey, Chief Executive of the ASAI."The main role of advertising self-regulatory organisations (SROs), such as the ASAI, is to ensure that ads and other marketing communications are legal, truthful, decent, and honest, prepared with a sense of social responsibility to the consumer and society and with proper respect for the principles of fair competition.”
“The ASAI is committed to protecting society in relation to advertising across all mediums. Self-regulatory ad standards provide an additional layer of consumer protection which complements legislative controls and offers an easily accessible means of resolving disputes.”
“The ASAI provides a free and confidential copy advice service to the advertising industry to help them create responsible ads. If an advertiser, agency, or medium has any concerns about a marketing communications’ compliance with the ASAI’s Code, they can contact us and avail of the free and confidential copy advice service.”
“Over the past few years, the Complaints Committee, comprised of independent and industry members, has dealt with a broad range of complaints," Brian O’Gorman, Independent Chairperson of the Complaints Committee of the ASAI. "The Complaints Committee has also spent considerable time highlighting awareness, through its adjudications, to advertising best practice within the advertising industry, ensuring all relevant parties are equipped with the knowledge and resources to correctly identify commercial marketing content across their platforms.”
