Advertising Standards Bureau Review of Operations 2015

MERGING BILLBOARDS TRANSPARENCY RADIO COMPLAINT PARTNERIN ADVERTISERS POSTERS COMMUNITY DETERMINATION OUTDOO SELF-REGULATE RESPONSIVE MEMBERS TELEVISIO ACCOUNTABILITY RESEARCH INTERNET RELIAB UNITING REPORTS CONSUMERS COMMUNICATIN DETERMINATION TRANSPORT EDUCATORS COD CONSUMERS ADAPTABLE EDUCATORS SOCIAL MED COOPERATING BILLBOARDS ASSOCIATIN What products attracted complaints? GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILI LIAISING INTEGRITY CINEM INDUSTRY TRAININ Of the 36 product categories recorded, four 20 categories. Several product categories received STANDARDS PEOPL categories accounted for just over half (52.22 no complaints, including telecommunications, TRANSPORT BRIDGIN per cent) of the complaints in 2015. These were religion, restaurants, office goods and services INDEPENDEN toiletries, vehicles, food and beverages and and media. SOCIAL MED professional services. CONSUMER CODE Toiletries which includes products such as razors, deodorant, sanitary pads, tampons, condoms and hair dye, were back as the most complained about product category in 2015, accounting for 14.62 per cent of all complaints. Vehicles were a close second at 14.26 per cent, but this was due to one advertisement which received a higher number of complaints about the language used in it. Complaint percentages about advertisements for food products was higher than the two previous years at 12.67 per cent, but still much lower than the highest recorded percentage of 33.25 per cent in 2007. Interestingly complaints made in relation to these advertisements were generally not about the food product being advertised, but about other issues such as sex, discrimination, language and violence. Professional services, including things such as dating services, treatment service providers, lawyers and electricians, continued to rise, and in 2015 accounted for 10.7 per cent of complaints. Sex industry complaint percentages dropped significantly to just 1.18 per cent in 2015 from an all-time high of 15.40 per cent in 2014. Community awareness advertising complaint percentage halved in 2015 to 5.86 per cent form a high of 11.41 per cent in 2014. Conversely, entertainment products resulted in a more significant rise in complaint percentages, from 2.46 per cent in 2014 to 7.27 per cent in 2015, as did gambling advertising from 3.45 percent in 2014 to 6.54 per cent in 2015. Due to the use of less controversial advertisements there was a significant decrease in complaints about automotive services (0.59 per cent in 2015 and 20.51 per cent 2014). Of the product categories listed, less than one per cent of complaints were recorded against Review of Operations 2015 Toiletries Vehicles Food and Beverages Professional services Entertainment Gambling Community Awareness Insurance House goods/services Finance/Investment Lingerie Retail Health Products Clothing Travel Sex Industry Bars and Clubs Alcohol Other Automotive Leisure & Sport Hardware/machinery Information Technology Slimming Toys & Games Real Estate Beauty Salon Employment Mobile Phone/SMS Education Telecommunications Tourist Attractions Media Office goods/services Religion/Beliefs Restaurants 0% 5% 10% 15% 79

Advertising Standards Bureau Review of Operations 2015 | Page 81