The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) have revealed that the UK filed 5,318 complaints against influencers last year, in their annual report for 2022.
Last year saw the advertising watchdog secure the amendment or withdrawal of 31,227 ads, as well as clamping down on cryptocurrency, greenwashing, age-restricted and influencer ads. It states that consumers need to know if the digital content they are engaging with is a ‘genuinely held, impartial opinion, or one that has been paid for’.
Of a total 18,430 online complaints filed, 5,318 of those addressed website, social media or app ads promoted by influencers. Some 4,044 of these complaints were subsequently classed as actual cases. Complaints for this sector are up by 9% from the previous year (2021).
Online media ad complaints fell by 11% from the 20,735 logged in 2021, although they did receive more complaints (18,430) than TV promotions (11,381). Disputes about email and direct mail advertisements also spiked in 2022, rising by 22% and 153%.
Overall, 84.8% of all cases managed in England were successfully solved.
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“2022 was the ASA’s 60th anniversary regulating UK ads – keeping them legal, decent, honest and truthful,” said ASA chair Lord Currie of Marylebone and chief executive Guy Parker.
“There’ve been huge legal, societal and technological changes in that time. The ASA system has had to be agile to stay on top, knitting together the disparate laws that affect advertising, responding to changing social norms and working collectively with other regulators and industry. The ‘one-stop shop’ ASA system, with the independent ASA at its heart, provides clear benefits to the public, industry and society.”
CAP chair James Best added: “All three of CAP’s arms were busy in 2022. Copy advice, compliance and regulatory policy each played their part in fulfilling the ASA system’s objectives and, as ever, covered a very broad canvas.
“To take them in turn, copy advice had a record year. No fewer than a million touchpoints were logged, delivering online guidance and help to individuals right across the advertising ecosystem.”
