The number of complaints to the Advertising Standards Bureau has tumbled over the past 12 months. In a significant drop, there were almost 1,000 less complaints lodged by the public to the ASA compared to the previous corresponding period.
However, 2007’s most controversial ad – a Nando’s TVC created by CHE, featuring a pole dancer gyrating in a G-string – stirred more concern than any other ad the previous year.
A TVC showing a man’s nipples growing as he chewed on Mentos gum was the most complained about ad of 2006, with 220 complaints, while almost 300 complaints were lodged against the Nando’s TVC. Both complaints were dismissed.
Overall, the advertising watchdog recorded about 3,000 complaints in the twelve months to November 30 this year, compared to 4,000 during the same period last year.
Fiona Jolly, ASB CEO, said the figures indicated the public had been significantly less offended by advertising this year.
However she noted the number of complaints “doesn’t correlate to whether advertisers are doing a better job or not”.
“At the end of 2005 and in 2006, the ASB had ads appearing on TV and that generated more public awareness. We also launched our online lodging of complaints so numbers recorded spiked in the previous 12 months,” Jolly said.
Official figures for 2007 will be released next year and include the month of December.
The ASB, which is part of the ad industry’s self-regulation system, has also recently conducted external research to establish whether complaint rulings against advertisers were legitimate in response to criticism that it was not in line with community standards.
Jolly said the ASB felt confident because people surveyed agreed with “most” of the Board’s decisions.
“We’ve confirmed that Board decisions generally reflect community standards on the key provisions of the AANA Code of Ethics including portrayal of violence, use of language and health and safety,” Jolly said.
