Ever wondered who makes all those whingy complaints to advertising standards boards? Well, apparently it’s men who are more likely to be offended by what they see in an ad than women.
Admittedly, the study was a British one; however, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has examined the gender of the 25,647 complaints it received in 2015 and found that 56 per cent them were from men. Women accounted for 41 per cent and it’s rather unclear who made up the remaining three per cent.
According to the study, published on UK’s The Guardian, the sexes also complain about different things. Men are more likely to complain when ads deliver wrong or misleading information. That accounted for 64 per cent of all complaints to the ASA last year.
Women are more likely to complain about ads they see as offensive or harmful – such as thin models or ads that “body shame”. Complaints about these kinds of ads were made by 59 per cent of women compared to 35 per cent for men.
According to the report, Londoners are the most likely to complain about ads. Some 16.4 per cent of the ASA’s complaints for 2015 came from the nation’s capital. Northern Ireland was the least likely to complain with only 1.4 per cent of complaints emanating from there.
Guy Parker, chief executive of the ASA, said of the findings: “The breakdown of ad complaints provides a fascinating snapshot of the issues that concern people across the nations and regions. It can only take a single complaint to stop an irresponsible ad. And it doesn’t matter who or where it comes from.”
