Canadians may be growing more vocal about ads they object to, according to the self-regulatory group that oversees the ad industry in this country.
In 2015, when complaints to Advertising Standards Canada spiked almost 40 per cent, the group believed it was an unusual year. That's because a large number of complaints were driven by advocacy ads on subjects such as climate change and abortion.
While complaints dropped slightly in 2016, according to ASC's annual report released this week, they have still not returned to previous levels.
"I can't point to any one or two ads that generated a great number of complaints, as they did last year," said Janet Feasby, ASC vice-president of standards.
While the group is not sure what's driving the higher number of complaints, she said, it is clear: "People are really paying attention."
As in previous years, the largest number of complaints fell under the clauses in the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards that deal with misleading or inaccurate ads or price claims. This category comprised 652 complaints. A further 406 complaints were about "unacceptable depictions and portrayals," which cover material that is demeaning or derogatory to a group – such as women, age groups and ethnicities – that condones unlawful behaviour, or that fails to meet standards of public decency.
Because ASC looks only into ads based on complaints, the report is not necessarily a reflection of the types of violations occurring most frequently – but it does give a sense of the kinds of ads that bother Canadians enough to push them to file complaints.
The vast majority of complaints used to refer to offensive ads, but since 2011, more people have been raising concerns about truth in advertising instead.
A combination of consumers and ad industry representatives together make up the "councils" that ASC convenes to review complaints.
Some advertisers choose to resolve the issue before it gets to the council: 178 complaints were resolved that way last year. If those councils determine that the ad violated a clause under the code, the advertiser is asked to pull the ad or to fix it. ASC does not have the power to fine companies, so enforcement can be a challenge.
ASC's leverage is in making such cases public: Advertisers who change or stop running an ad on their own once they are told about the complaint are not named when the ASC publishes its decisions.
However, ASC makes all details of the case public when advertisers wait for complaints to go through a review, or when they do not co-operate with decisions at all.
Of the 1,639 complaints made last year about 1,237 ads, ASC determined that 1,108 were relevant under the code (exceptions include complaints where a specific ad is not identified, ads that are not current, election ads and others).
Of those, 86 complaints were sent to councils for review, and 44 were upheld as violations of the code.