Protecting young and vulnerable people

Annual Report 2020 Advertising Standards Authority Committees of Advertising Practice Contents

About the ASA and CAP 01 Our work in 2020 on: Chairmen’s reports Body image 08 Q&A with David Currie 02 Financial detriment 10 Q&A with James Best 04 Protecting children 12 Wider societal harms 14 CEO’s report Working with online platforms 16 A word from Guy Parker 06 Covid and casework 18 ASA launches ‘brand’ new campaign 07 Our performance against our objectives 20 Complaints and cases in context 22 Governance ASA Council 24 Committees of Advertising Practice 25

Read our case studies covering the following themes:

Financial Protecting Body image detriment children p.08 p.10 p.12

Wider Working Covid and societal harms with online casework p.14 platforms p.18 p.16

Our online report contains the Industry Advisory Panel report Find even following additional information: The Industry Advisory Panel (IAP) provides industry insight and guidance on non-broadcast and broadcast more online at: Independent Reviewer’s report matters. Tim Duffy, IAP Chair, summarises some of the Sir Hayden Phillips, the Independent Reviewer of ASA areas on which the panel shared their expertise in 2020. asa.org.uk/ar20full Council Rulings, reports on cases he reviewed in 2020. Promotional Marketing and Direct Response Advertising Advisory Committee report Panel report The Advertising Advisory Committee (AAC) provides The Promotional Marketing and Direct Response Panel advice from the perspective of consumers on potential (PMDRP) advises on promotional and direct marketing updates to the UK advertising rules. Stephen Locke, matters. Chair Catherine Shuttleworth highlights some AAC Chair, reports on the Committee’s activity for 2020. advice the PMDRP provided during 2020.

Financial report Find out more about how we are funded and our expenditure. 01 About the ASA and CAP

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media. The Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) write the UK Advertising Codes and provide authoritative guidance on the rules. Together, we work to make ads responsible. We do this by taking action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertising and ensuring compliance across all sectors.

In memory of Matti Alderson and Enid Cassin We dedicate this report to Matti Alderson and Enid Cassin, two titans of the ASA and advertising self-regulation family. Without their hard work, pioneering vision and dedication to the self-regulatory advertising system, our work today would not be possible. We continue to uphold their legacy: an unrelenting focus Matti Alderson Enid Cassin on making sure that UK ads are 'legal, decent, honest Director General 1990 – 2000 Deputy Director of the ASA 1975 – 1982 and truthful’. Deputy Director General 1982 – 1990 02 / ASA and CAP Annual Report 2020 Q&A with David Currie ASA Chairman

protection legal backstop National Trading Accountability and transparency are at Despite a Standards and in collaboration with the the of that work. The buy-in and Gambling Commission, CMA, FCA, the commitment of everyone in the online challenging year, ICO, the MHRA, to name but a few. ecosystem, including platforms, networks, publishers, agencies, ad tech companies the ASA has The current proposals by UK government and brands, will be key to that. for TV and online ad restrictions for high continued to make fat, salt or sugar foods and drinks illustrate Q: How do you see future regulation progress on the how the regulatory landscape might of video-sharing platforms (VSP) change. As do the ongoing DCMS reviews evolving? of online advertising and the Gambling Act. implementation A: Although not yet confirmed, we anticipate We engage constructively with government continuing to regulate VSP ads in partnership to explain the regulation we already deliver of our strategy. with , EU media regulators (particularly and to ensure our system responds to and in Ireland) and EU ad self-regulatory bodies. reflects appropriate statutory ad restrictions That will require continued close cooperation Here, ASA Chairman David that may come into force. with both statutory regulators and our fellow Currie shares his thoughts Q: There is a growing societal concern members of the European Advertising on the key emerging issues about the role of online platforms Standards Alliance, but it also ties in with when it comes to harmful advertising. our work on Online Platform and Network for advertising regulation in the What is the ASA doing to address that? Standards. Jurisdictional issues make this complicated, but we already have the UK and how data science is A: We’re alive to the concerns, of course, capability and networks in place to play a but let’s dispel the myth that online advertising key day-to-day role. starting to transform the way isn’t regulated. It is, by the ASA. And our the ASA tackles harmful and strategy is focused on regulating online Q: The ASA strategy highlights plans ads even more effectively. to invest in data science capability. misleading ads online. How much progress have you made? We’re already delivering a step change in that regulation through our use of innovative A: ’m delighted that towards the end of the Q: How does self-regulation operate technology to tackle irresponsible ads, year we were able to bring a data scientist alongside statutory regulation? at pace and at scale. And we’re exploring on board. A first for the ASA, and a role that A: Our self-regulatory system is more of a going further, creating new Online Platform will play an important part in our ambition to ‘collective’ one. For years we’ve worked and Network Standards to formally bind rebalance our regulation away from reactive effectively alongside statutory partners, key online players, including Google and complaints casework towards ‘collective’ in co-regulation with our broadcast and Facebook, into our regulation. regulation and proactive tech-assisted VOD partner Ofcom, with our consumer intelligence-gathering, monitoring and enforcement. We’ve already made a start, building a Natural Language Processing and computer vision model to predict whether online ads are scams, which we’re deploying. And we’re currently recruiting for a Head of Data Science. I’m excited about this work; it has great potential for protecting consumers, and the reality is regulators that don’t invest in data science will be left behind.

Lord Currie of Marylebone ASA Chairman

Lord Currie of Marylebone ASA Chairman 03

In 2020 ... Proactive The ASA’s innovative use of technology to find Delivering a step problem ads and change in ad regulation enforce the rules

Reactive

Combined with resolving 36,342 Resulted in complaints 36,491 ads being amended relating to or withdrawn 22,823 ads

a 346% increase on 2019 04 / ASA and CAP Annual Report 2020 Q&A with James Best CAP Chairman

Q: How is the advertising industry Regulation, including through the CAP The pandemic responding to the climate crisis? Codes, has been seen as a route to address both. Calls to ban the advertising of things A: I think the industry is stepping up to the wasn’t the only like SUVs or companies involved in the challenge now. Not only have all sorts of extraction of fossil fuels have become global issue to agencies, media owners and advertisers louder. And stricter rules on ‘green’ embarked on their own carbon reduction claims have been demanded. dominate the programmes, but the ad industry has headlines in 2020. committed to a collective approach, through Q: Where does CAP stand on those the Advertising Association’s Ad Net Zero ideas and how else might it be able initiative, both to drive down the emissions to contribute? The year also brought into from developing, producing and placing A: The law very rarely allows for advertising advertising to net zero by end-2030 and to bans on things that can be legally sold, so sharp focus how global throw its weight behind the government’s it’s important for CAP to take account of the COP26 programme. powers and institutions, latest evidence in banning irresponsible and big business are key to Q: What do you think is driving the marketing practices. Companies around the industry to take action? world are responding to pressure from their influencing our ability to tackle customers, employees and communities, A: The motivation to act has several sources. as well as to increasing statutory restraints, climate change. At CAP we’re First, companies and their people want to to introduce new and more sustainable play their part. There is an enthusiasm to looking closer to home at products, packaging and working practices. show what advertising can do to contribute Advertising is critical in promoting such to national efforts to reduce the UK’s carbon the role advertising and ad innovations and helping consumers to footprint and improve our environment. adopt more sustainable behaviours. regulation can play. Then there is outside pressure, with media commentators and activists alike homing But CAP’s Codes of course have a role to Here, CAP Chairman in on two aspects of advertising’s role. play. They already include a substantial One, the part it plays in generating the section on environmental claims, to counter James Best shares his economic activity that boosts our living ‘greenwashing’ and ensure consumers insights into how the industry standards but drives emissions. Two, its use can base their choices on good evidence; by companies to promote their – and their this part of the Codes is likely to grow. is responding to climate products’ – green credentials, with the Further, with the joint CAP and ASA project attendant question of ‘greenwashing’. change, what is driving that exploring how regulation can encourage change and how advertising greener purchasing decisions, I can see product attributes such as durability, regulation can contribute. ‘mendability’, lifecycle carbon footprint, origin and ingredients coming under ever greater scrutiny. And finally, consumer lifestyles portrayed in ads may be increasingly expected to be ‘sustainable’ ones, so that environmentally irresponsible or harmful behaviour must be avoided. The project will also explore how regulation responds to these expectations.

James Best CAP Chairman

James Best CAP Chairman 05

In 2020 ... CAP’s guidance was read 710,780 times on our website or in an Insight newsletter. Delivering more advice and training to businesses The Copy Advice team answered 6,322 queries.

Resulting in 722,376 pieces of advice and 5,274 training being delivered people attended a to businesses. workshop, industry presentation or took an eLearning course. 06 / ASA and CAP Annual Report 2020 A word from Guy Parker Chief Executive’s report

If 2020 began similarly to We started our Racial and Ethnic Stereotyping Google joined the European Advertising project and doubled down on protecting Standards Alliance (EASA), agreeing to 2019, that wasn’t to last. children and people in vulnerable contribute more fully to ad self-regulatory circumstances, including by launching a bodies (us included) and marking a tipping Scam Ad Alert system. We increased point in putting the ASA system’s funding In the first two months, Brexit and climate our use of technology, working with tech on a stronger footing. change dominated the news. third parties and building our own data This report contains examples of the above. Pressure for tighter advertising restrictions science team; technology that helped us But to finish where I started, Brexit may not in some sectors traded places with societal smash our previous record of ads amended have affected us having UK ad regulation concerns around online harms. And within or withdrawn. covered, but it did mean even closer working the ad industry itself, how to turn around low We continued to prioritise our reactive with EASA and its global equivalent ICAS, trust in advertising and put ASA system complaints casework, putting our resources organisations we helped found and are funding on a more sustainable basis? where they mattered most. We worked proud to belong to. And pandemic or not, Then came Covid-19. ever more closely with regulatory and other climate change has not gone away: our partners. We began exploring holding online Climate Change and the Environment project, Our focus changed from delivering year platforms to greater account for their role in launched in 2020 which James Best talks two of our More Impact Online strategy – upholding responsible ads online through about in his Q&A, is front and centre in how still vital – to responding to the pandemic. our Online Platform and Network Standards we’re responding to the most important We successfully our budget by 20%, initiative. We launched our ASA ad campaign, challenge of all. no easy feat when a quarter of the year was in Scotland to start with, to remind people of already gone. We moved seamlessly to the ASA’s vital role keeping ads, including working from home. We quickly adapted those online, legal, decent, honest and our day-to-day regulation. Most important truthful; key to maintaining trust in ads. of all, we successfully kept our staff safe Guy Parker and secure. ASA Chief Executive Despite the huge challenges, we made substantial progress on so many fronts.

This year we moved seamlessly to working from home. We quickly adapted our day-to-day regulation. Most important of all, we successfully kept our staff safe and secure.

Guy Parker ASA Chief Executive 07 'Brand' new ASA campaign to increase trust in advertising

The ASA worked with some Pre-campaign research indicated that increased awareness of the ASA led to of the UK’s most iconic an increase in trust, which in turn led to Trust in the ASA is increased trust in ads and the ad industry brands to create an impactful more generally. To put this to the test, a driver of trust in new campaign, with the key we restricted the pilot campaign to run in the ad industry. Scotland only, so that we could compare message ‘UK advertising is the post-campaign Scottish results against regulated, including online’. the rest of the UK to see how the needle had shifted.

Media owners generously donated over We will conclude our post-campaign £800,000 worth of media space across TV, research at the end of Q1 2021, and look radio, press, out-of-home and online for the forward to rolling the campaign out UK-wide first burst of the campaign, which ran from later in 2021. September to December.

We partnered with the Advertising Association, The Leith Agency and MediaCom Edinburgh, who donated their time and expertise to create and execute this campaign. 08 / ASA and CAP Annual Report 2020

CASE STUDY Body image

Cherie Leung Regulatory Policy Executive, CAP

CAP published a public consultation on At present there are no legal restrictions Limiting young proposals for new rules that would prohibit on the placing and scheduling of ads for advertising for cosmetic interventions being cosmetic interventions to children and people’s exposure directed at those under the age of 18 across young people under the age of 18 . all media, including online. This was in to ads for cosmetic These proposals form part of a wider range response to ongoing public health and of measures CAP is considering around the political concerns about the potential harms interventions potential harm relating to body image from from such advertising on children and advertising and the impact on people’s young people in relation to body image mental health. CAP will make further pressures they may experience. announcements on this and communicate the outcome of the consultation in 2021.

Medical doctors are the only practitioners to be subject to mandatory age-based targeting and scheduling restrictions on cosmetic interventions advertising by their statutory professional standards body.

The ASA banned this ad from Royal Tunbridge Wells Skin Clinic Ltd in 2019 for normalising lip fillers for young women and teenagers and presenting this as something responsible parents should support.

In 2020, the health and beauty sector had the most ads amended and withdrawn. 09

We banned this post by Gemma Collins for Skinny Jabs Ltd as it Tania Hardcastle promoted a prescription- Investigations Executive, only medicine on social ASA media.

Banning influencer posts promoting weight loss injections

2020 heightened concerns about putting on weight as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, due to lifestyle changes such as prolonged periods of staying at home and disruption to diet or exercise routines. This context made it even more important that we investigated and published rulings against three advertisers promoting the use of licensed injectable prescription-only medicines* for weight loss, including by influencers on Instagram. An Enforcement Notice was issued jointly with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and shared with the Care Quality Commission, General Medical SkinnyJab Council, General Pharmaceutical Council ended up changing and Nursing and Midwifery Council. its name to SlimCare We followed up by using monitoring as a result of the ruling. software Brandwatch to identify and report similar ads for immediate removal. We identified a further 150 advertisers promoting licensed injectable prescription- only medicines for weight loss on social media and we sent the Enforcement Notice to them, directly instructing them to remove their ads.

* The advertising of prescription-only medicines to the general public is prohibited. 10 / ASA and CAP Annual Report 2020

CASE STUDY Financial detriment

The ASA and CAP responded to growing Helen Mathews concerns about the advertising of deferred Investigations Executive, payment services, also known as Buy Now ASA Pay Later schemes, which have recently become widely available as payment options across retailer websites. Consumers The ASA ruled on four influencer posts for Klarna, which linked ‘lifting’ one’s mood shouldn’t pay during the Covid-19 national lockdown the price for with buying products through their ‘pay later’ service. irresponsible The upheld ruling sent a clear message about advertising deferred payment deferred services responsibly, concluding that the payment ads ads irresponsibly encouraged the use of credit. CAP also published new guidance on advertising delayed payment services, focusing on preventing ads from misleading consumers, and gave advertisers a deadline of 2 March 2021 to amend all their ads.

This post was one of four ads reported by Labour MP Stella Creasy and banned by the ASA for promoting irresponsible use of credit. 11

Louise Hogan Maroney Adam Elmahdi Operations Manager – Complaints Executive, Complaints, ASA ASA

Working in partnership with the major ad Tackling Partnering with platforms, networks, and other key players, the system allows us to quickly share misleading debt online platforms to information about scam ads with ad advice ads remove scam ads networks to facilitate their swift removal, as well as preventing similar ads from appearing. Many people in the UK are under significant The ASA launched a Scam Ad Alert system Since launch, we have received over pressure and stress as a result of the current in June after a successful three-month trial, 1,100 reports and sent over 100 Scam economic situation and may search for responding to the harm that paid-for scam Ad Alerts which primarily concern crypto- advice on debt. ads inflict on people and the reputation of currency investment scams which utilise the online ad industry. Anyone can now Following concerns raised by the Money fake ‘news’ stories, doctored images quickly and easily report scams to us via and Pensions Service, we ruled against of well-known figures and fictitious a dedicated form on our website. online advertising by five companies offering celebrity endorsements. debt advice solutions. The cases centred on a number of misleading claims, including: • exaggeration of the speed and ease with which debt can be reduced; • implied associations with a genuine debt charity; and • suggestions that debt counselling was being offered when in fact leads were passed to a third party. The rulings form part of our ongoing work with a range of partner organisations to identify areas of consumer detriment online and to take action against misleading and irresponsible ads. Misleading online advertising for unregulated financial products, particularly those by lead generation companies, remains a key focus and we will be looking to take further action in 2021.

Partners responded to our alerts within 48 hours (88% of the time) to confirm they removed the reported scam ad. 12 ASA and CAP Annual Report 2020

CASE STUDY Protecting children

Preventing restricted ads being served to children online …

Conor Gibson Emily Henwood Carrie Speer Compliance Executive, Senior Complaints Senior Investigations CAP Executive, ASA Executive, ASA Using avatar Using CCTV-style monitoring monitoring

In 2018, we used avatars to find problem We began a year-long project to monitor ads on children’s websites. In 2020, we took age-restricted ads on children’s websites this a step further, using avatars to examine and YouTube channels. The aim is to ensure whether children are being served targeted that advertisers for the following categories ads for restricted products (gambling, are targeting their ads away from child alcohol, HFSS) on mixed-age media – audiences: high fat, salt or sugar products websites and YouTube channels that are (HFSS), alcohol, gambling, e-cigarettes likely to appeal to both adults and children and weight loss. but where under-18s make up less than Using monitoring tools, we searched for and 25% of the audience. captured age-restricted ads on 49 websites By mimicking children’s, teens’ and other and seven YouTube channels attracting a users’ profiles, the avatars help us to scale disproportionately high child audience. up data collection on the ads being served In the first three sweeps, we identified a to younger users and multi-user profiles number of instances where advertisers in the online spaces where they spend broke the rules by having their age-restricted their time. products appearing on these sites, with the We’re using this data to improve our main issue being ads for HFSS foods or understanding of the issues and engaging drinks. We contacted the advertisers and with advertisers, agencies and platforms sought assurances that they would remove to ensure our protection of children online the ads and amend their practices to better encompasses a range of spaces, not just target their ads away from children’s media. ‘children’s media’. So far we have seen a reduction in the number of ads in the gambling and HFSS sector, and we expect to see this reduction continue in the next report. Mixed-aged media This refers to sites with content not commissioned for or directly targeted at under-18s, but where they make up 10% – 25% audience share. 18+

13 – 16 13

Andy Taylor Celia Pontin Regulatory Policy Regulatory Policy Executive, CAP Executive, CAP

Limiting the Applying the appeal of gambling advertising rules ads to young to in-game people purchases

In October, CAP launched a consultation on In November, we launched a public proposals to introduce stricter rules on the consultation on comprehensive guidance kinds of content acceptable in gambling for in-game purchasing and loot boxes as a ads, with the aim of reducing their appeal to response to concerns raised by the public, under-18s. The consultation responds to the video game press, campaign and research commissioned by GambleAware. research organisations, and parliamentary Key findings suggested that the creative select committees. content of gambling and lotteries ads that The consultation proposes using formal follow the existing advertising rules has guidance to address three key areas of more potential to appeal to and adversely concern: impact under-18s and vulnerable adults than previously understood. • pricing information at point of purchase; A particular focus of the proposals is on • the language and approaches used to sports-related references that might unduly advertise in-game purchases (and the attract the attention of young people. games they appear in); and CAP will announce the outcome of the • the use of in-game purchased items in consultation in mid-2021. ads for games. We’ll continue to gather and review responses in 2021, and aim to publish new guidance later in the year. 14 / ASA and CAP Annual Report 2020

CASE STUDY Wider societal harms

The ASA received complaints about this Badoo Ltd ad on the basis of racial stereotyping, but the ASA Council decided the ad was acceptable and the complaints did not need further investigation.

Laura Brewster Omolade Osonuga Complaints Executive, Complaints Executive, ASA ASA Preventing harmful racial and ethnic stereotypes in advertising

The events of 2020 saw a global focus on ethnicity. The review highlighted some key issues of racial inequality. The ASA has a areas for further exploration, and in 2021 strong record of banning ads which feature we will be undertaking extensive work, depictions of race and ethnicity that are including commissioning a major piece offensive or harmful, but as an organisation of public research. committed to taking meaningful action to This research will form part of a new protect people, we asked ourselves what evidence base to help us understand what more could be done. more we need to do to address and prevent As a first step in answering this question, harmful racial and ethnic stereotypes in we undertook a large review of our past advertising, which could contribute to decisions on issues that touch on race and real-life inequalities. 15

Miles Lockwood Director of Complaints and Investigations, ASA

We’ll review how effective our rules are and, Responding working in partnership with the CMA, will take proactive action against greenwashing to the climate claims. We will develop the advice and emergency guidance we offer advertisers so they can responsibly promote their environmental The ASA has been at the forefront of credentials. tackling misleading greenwashing claims The ASA will also practise what it preaches. for over 30 years. Given the scale of the We have committed to becoming Carbon climate emergency, we want to do more. Net Zero by 2030 at the latest, in line with That’s why we’ve launched our Climate commitments made by the advertising Change and the Environment project. industry.

Greenwashing is a practice whereby an advertiser makes misleading claims about the environmental credentials of their product, for example describing it as greener, without holding sufficient evidence to support the claim.

In February 2020, we ruled this Ryanair ad was misleading, in part because it used out-of-date statistics to claim it was the UK’s lowest emission airline. 16 / ASA and CAP Annual Report 2020

CASE STUDY Working with online platforms

Shahriar Coupal Jo Poots Director of the Head of Operations Committees, (Complaints and CAP and BCAP Investigations), ASA

For example, platforms remove ads that Increasing persistently flout our rules; they help fund Using data science our regulation and promote awareness of transparency and the Advertising Codes; and they provide to scale up our accountability training and insight to develop our online regulation expertise online. online Building on these foundations, we have In 2020, we began building our in-house engaged with government and the online Data Science team, with the hiring of a data The ASA has been regulating online advertising industry to explore strengthening scientist. Our first project produced a Scam ads for more than 20 years. We hold our regulation online: holding platforms Ad Predictor model, which predicts whether advertisers responsible for the content to greater account for the role they play online paid-for ads are scams, helping us to and placement of their ads, but we also in upholding the advertising rules, and scale up the protection of people online. work with social media platforms to being open and transparent about how protect people online. Using web-scraper technology, we collect they perform. high volumes of ads every day, which are In the context of a changing online regulatory run through the model. We then alert online landscape, we and the platforms we engage platforms via our Scam Ad Alert system with are determined to adapt and play (see page 11). our part in delivering a more inclusive and In addition, we’re seeking to pool our accountable form of advertising regulation expertise with other international regulatory for everyone’s benefit. partners. We’ve been instrumental in setting up European Advertising Standards Alliance’s Data Driven Working Group, collaborating on data science initiatives with advertising regulators in France and the Netherlands. Online Platform and Network Standards ‘is a central task in ensuring… online players are bound into the regulation of advertising, and in finding a sufficient and reliable funding solution’.

Oliver Dowden Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

The Scam Ad Predictor model uses Natural Language Processing and computer vision to determine the likelihood of an online ad being a scam. 17

We published this summary in March 2021 to share our findings.

Are influencers disclosing advertising correctly? Ed Senior Victoria Bugler Cracking down on poor Compliance Executive, Senior Compliance ad labelling on social media ASA Executive, ASA In September 2020, CAP monitored the Stories of 122 influencers1 on Instagram to assess whether advertising content We assessed over was being properly labelled. 24,000 Stories and Enforcing the were disappointed Ensuring a consumer knows when the content they are engaging with is an ad is a key principle to find that of the advertising rules, and disclosure must be compliance rates ad labelling rules prominent and upfront. were far below what The accounts monitored belonged to influencers we would expect. that had been previously given guidance about on social media when and how to label ads.

1 Influencers were chosen on the following basis: a history of non-disclosure complaints to the ASA, past contact providing advice Both the Advertising Codes and the law on how to comply with the ad labelling rules (ex-Love Island contestants). are clear: it must be obvious to consumers when the content they’re engaging with is What did we find? advertising. However, not all influencers are being upfront by clearly labelling their content to show when they’re being paid 122 Influencers monitored 24,208 (in cash or in kind) to promote a product. over 21 consecutive Stories captured 35% days of ads were % labelled correctly of24 which We monitored the Stories of 122 UK-based were ads influencers on Instagram over 21 consecutive days, capturing over 24,000 Stories. The influencers we monitored had already been given ad labelling advice, either How did ad disclosure on social media directly as part of the ASA resolving compare across sectors? a complaint, or as part of our proactive advice work. Sector Number of Ads Compliance Rate Our findings revealed trends giving rise Beauty 1406 % to non-compliance, such as: 45 Clothing 1385 36% • failure to consistently label ad content Leisure 708 24% across consecutive Stories; and Food & Drink 392 35% Fitness, Diet & • inconsistent disclosure across different 376 Weight loss 39% platform features – for example, a post Home, Garden & Cleaning 171 would be accurately disclosed as an ad, 43% Jewellery & 100 but a corresponding Story was not. Accessories 50% Other 1190 28% We contacted all of the influencers 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 monitored, and those brands that consistently failed to make sufficiently clear where content was as an ad, to put them on What were the most common issues? notice that we will take further enforcement action if we don’t see an improvement. Our analysis identified some trends that led to lower rates of compliance:

• Inconsistent disclosure across Stories When a piece of ad content spans a number of consecutive Stories, each Story must be disclosed as an ad, unless it’s absolutely clear that this is part of the same posting.

• Inconsistent disclosure across Stories, IGTV, Reels and posts A post would be accurately disclosed as an ad but a corresponding Story, was not.

• Visibility of ad labels Where Stories were labelled as ads, #ad labels were often in a small font, obscured or difficult to spot due to being a similar colour to the background. X • Affiliate content is still an ad The use of #affiliate or #aff with no additional #ad upfront disclosure is not sufficient to disclose to users the content is advertising. #aff

• Own-brand ads Influencers should not rely on bios or past posts to make it clear to consumers they are connected to a product. #ad

N.B. The research considered all types of content (Reels, IGTV, posts and Stories), but mainly focused on Stories. The rules apply equally across all types of content.

What happens next?

We have written to the influencers we monitored, as well as a number of brands who featured If further monitoring spot-checks in undisclosed ads, to share this find influencer ads are still not information with them and to put them on notice that we expect being adequately disclosed, to see an immediate and sanctions will be applied. significant improvement.

Legal, decent, honest and truthful 18 / ASA and CAP Annual Report 2020

CASE STUDY Covid and casework

Miles Lockwood Director of Complaints and Investigations, ASA Elisabeth Erwin Senior Investigations Our regulatory Executive, ASA response to Covid-19 Banned – vitamin injection ad preys Like other organisations, the Covid-19 crisis forced us to rapidly reprioritise our work in on health fears 2020. We adapted our approach to ensure lighter-touch regulation for responsible We ruled against an ad for an aesthetic businesses facing distress, while cracking clinic offering vitamin D and B12 injections down hard and fast on ads that unfairly or and claiming they could boost immunity, irresponsibly took advantage of the crisis. support lung function and aid faster recovery from viruses. Protecting the public from harmful Covid-19 ads has been a top priority. That’s why we All licensed injectable forms of vitamins D launched a Quick Report form, enabling and B12 are prescription-only medicines people to swiftly report problem Covid-19 and must not be promoted to the public – claims. We’ve processed 1,084 reports. therefore the ad broke our rules. The We banned ads that made misleading medicines were also being promoted for claims about the protective qualities of face uses outside their licensed purposes. masks and the health benefits of vitamin injections. We worked closely with regulatory partners, such as the CMA and MHRA, to take a joined-up approach to tackling issues. We also worked to prevent problem ads appearing by issuing guidance to gambling advertisers on how to avoid causing harm, and advice to the ad industry on how to responsibly create ads that take account of Covid-19 safety measures.

The ASA received 1,084 Covid quick reports in 2020.

The ASA ruled that this marketing email from Skinspace gave the impression that the vitamin D and B12 injections were effective in helping to prevent or treat coronavirus. 19

Carrie Speer Elisabeth Erwin Senior Investigations Senior Investigations Executive, ASA Executive, ASA

Banned – IV drip Banned – ads making misleading ads Covid-19 claims for face masks

In March, we received complaints about The ASA’s position on advertising claims ads from three private clinics that referenced for face coverings evolved quickly in coronavirus in relation to IV drips. The ads response to new scientific evidence and implied that the drips could prevent or public health recommendations as the treat Covid-19 – a medicinal claim that pandemic unfolded. While coverings is not approved by the MHRA. became mandatory in many public places, for the purpose of protecting others from We fast-tracked our investigations and infection, only certified personal protective published the rulings in April, banning the equipment can protect the wearer. ads and any similar unlicensed medicinal claims. Supported by the MHRA and other In August, we ruled against an ad for face regulators, we followed up by sending an masks that implied they would protect The ASA also banned this Enforcement Notice to clinics offering IV the wearer, despite the advertiser holding ad in November 2020 as drips to ensure swift compliance throughout insufficient evidence to show that was Easylife Group failed to provide the sector and prevent other irresponsible the case. any evidence to support the advertisers capitalising on people’s fears during the pandemic. antimicrobial claims for their face masks.

As the IV drip in this post for Cosmetic Medical Advice UK was not a licensed medicinal product, the ASA ruled that the medicinal claim “protect yourself from viral infections” could not be made. 20 / ASA and CAP Annual Report 2020 Our performance against our objectives

Objectives

Improving Continue our focus on misleading content Deploying Deploy tech-assisted monitoring and regulation and inappropriate targeting, working tech-assisted enforcement, in particular to protect more closely with large online platforms children and other vulnerable people. of online ads to protect people from irresponsible monitoring and Report the number of ads amended online ads enforcement or withdrawn

Introducing new Better prioritising, exploring if machine Increasing advice Continue implementing the findings of our approaches to learning can improve our regulation, and training CAP advice and training (A&T) services adopting lighter-touch complaints review, increasing our A&T Touchpoints case handling channels and improving our processes to 600,000

Key performance indicators All of our KPIs are on target

Maintained balance of reactive 36,491 722,376 complaints casework and proactive ads amended or withdrawn pieces of advice and training delivered projects: 55% to 22% – vs. target of 55% (up 346%1) – against a target of 600,000 to c.20%

Cost per ad amended or withdrawn Cost per piece of advice and training is £36.23 (82% better than 2019, improved by 33%, including inflation including inflation) (from £0.93 to £0.63)

Maintained casework productivity within Six of six case types closed within target Meet customer satisfaction targets: 5% of 2019 levels timescales No Additional Investigation after Council Cost per No Additional Investigation Responded to 98% of standard Copy Decision cases2 68% – vs. target of 65% case £61.30 (1.5% better than 2019, Advice enquiries within 24 hours – vs. target including inflation) of 90% Informal cases 84% – vs. target of 75%

Cost per Informal Investigation case Formal Investigation cases 71% – vs. target £189.17 (3.8% worse than 2019, of 75% including inflation) Advertisers 81% – vs. target of 75% Cost per Formal Investigation case £678.20 (0.4% worse than 2019, including inflation) Copy Advice service 97% – vs. target of 90%

We commenced a major programme 90% of respondents more confident 98% of Formal Investigation cases of work exploring racial and ethnic complying with Ad Codes after an enforced – vs. target of 97% stereotypes, including a review of historical Advice:am event – vs. target of 90% ads, with further (public) research and a literature review planned in 2021

First wave of consumer research across all nations and regions of the UK benchmarked Expenditure within 98.2% of Crisis Budget Four Formal Intelligence Gathering public views on trust in advertising and (excluding extraordinary expenditure Reports delivered – against a target awareness of the ASA and legal fees) – against a target of of four 97.5% – 100%

1 2019 figure corrected from 8,881 to 8,183 on 18 February 2021. 2 From April, we stopped including NAI complainants in our surveys following changes to the servicing of their complaints. We surveyed NAICD complainants from April against a 65% target. 21

OPTION

Objectives

Regulating for the Continue taking into account the views Developing our Prioritise retaining and developing our people, whole of the UK and interests of those who live in different people and in a challenging economic environment. nations and regions by capturing and Undertake identified work priorities and analysing intelligence delivering deliver our strategy, including our Inclusion improvements Strategy. Develop our thought-leadership in the regulation of ads online

Demonstrating the Demonstrate regulatory effectiveness Responding to Explore the role that advertising regulation effectiveness of through our actions and communication, climate change can play in responding to the climate change and be open-minded to change that challenge, and set and report on targets to our regulation strengthens the ASA system. Execute our reduce our own carbon footprint ad campaign in Scotland and raise awareness of our online regulation

Ads amended or withdrawn

,

,

36,491 , ads were amended or withdrawn this year ,

,

, This 346% increase on 2019 was driven , by our use of tech-assisted online , ad monitoring and

enforcement

Turnaround performance

urnaround erormance onbroadcast

o Additional Investigation , or days

Informal Investigation or days ormal Investigation or days target 6 of 6 urnaround erormance roadcast o Additional Investigation turnaround KPIs were met , or days

Informal Investigation or days

ormal Investigation or days target * Dependent on case type. 22 / ASA and CAP Annual Report 2020 Complaints and cases in context

Complaints and cases resolved by media (top ten)

2020 2019 Complaints about outdoor ads Complaints Cases Complaints Cases decreased by 56% Media Number % +/- Number % +/- Number Number Online 17,379 4% 14,512 -2% 16,767 14,775 Television 14,211 43% 5,070 -3% 9,971 5,216 Email 1,134 4% 1,043 2% 1,094 1,024 Radio 843 -5% 498 -17% 887 598 Outdoor 785 -56% 415 -44% 1,787 744 Online complaints National press 706 30% 370 -15% 544 437 increased by 4% Packaging and point and made up almost of sale 485 -48% 470 -47% 936 890 Leaflet, brochure, 1/2 of all complaints catalogue or directory 472 -41% 408 -43% 801 717 Other 394 3% 336 2% 382 330 Direct mail or circular 274 -49% 223 -38% 533 358 Television See our extended, online annual report for the full list of complaints and cases by media at asa.org.uk/ar20full. complaints increased by 43%, but only made up 1/5 of all cases

Online complaints and cases broken down

2020 2019 Complaints Cases Complaints Cases Online media Number % +/- Number % +/- Number Number Complaints about Website, social media influencer posts or app (own site) 8,341 -8% 7,3 3 4 -12% 9,035 8,338 decreased by 8%, Website, social media but still made up or app (influencer) 4,066 -8% 3,355 -9% 4,401 3,670 Website, social media almost 1/4 of or app (paid ad) 3,150 66% 2,682 61% 1,894 1,663 online cases Video 1,008 78% 433 44% 567 300 Search 367 5% 336 6% 348 318 Game 273 -32% 226 -39% 403 373 Messaging app 106 23% 94 12% 86 84 Audio podcast or on demand 50 NA 34 NA NA* NA* Website, social media or app (other) 13 -59% 13 -54% 32 28 Augmented or virtual reality 4 NA 4 NA NA* NA* Viral 1 0% 1 0% 1 1 Online total 17,379 4% 14,512 -2% 16,767 14,775 * No 2019 figures are available for this media type. 23

Complaints and cases by sector (top ten)

2020 2019 Complaints Cases Complaints Cases +81% increase Sector Number % +/- Number % +/- Number Number in non-commercial Leisure 6,346 16% 4,769 10% 5,473 4,348 complaints Health and beauty 5,285 40% 3,088 16% 3,779 2,671 Retail 4,998 -3% 3,741 -3% 5,166 3,850 -19% decrease in Non-commercial 3,587 81% 1,193 -1% 1,983 1,205 food and drink cases Food and drink 2,981 -12% 1,495 -19% 3,402 1,839 Business 2,447 10% 1,930 1% 2,222 1,920 +10% increase Financial 1,943 -27% 1,193 -30% 2,657 1,715 in leisure cases Computers and +40% increase in telecommunications 1,545 -13% 989 -25% 1,770 1,311 health and beauty Household 1,499 9% 868 -8% 1,370 947 complaints Holidays and travel 1,468 -26% 846 -50% 1,975 1,709 See our extended, online annual report for the full list of complaints and cases by sector at asa.org.uk/ar20full.

Complaints and cases resolved by issue

2020 2019 Non-broadcast Broadcast Non-broadcast Broadcast Complaints Cases Complaints Cases Complaints Cases Complaints Cases Misleading 16,121 14,334 3,403 2,021 17,3 0 3 15,498 3,179 2,179 (71%) (78%) (22%) (35%) Over 3/4 of non-broadcast Offensive 1,480 981 3,331 1,427 1,898 1,200 3,549 1,722 cases concerned potentially (6%) (5%) (21%) (24%) misleading ads, compared Harm 2,384 1,950 2,568 1,490 2,146 1,609 2,405 1,339 with just over 1/3 of (10%) (11%) (17%) (26%) broadcast cases No issue 2,855 1,154 6,138 874 3,437 1,482 1,933 670 (13%) (6%) (40%) (15%) N.B. Numbers in brackets represent percentage totals of complaints and cases by issue.

Complaints and cases resolved by outcome

Non-broadcast Broadcast Overall totals Sector Complaints Cases Complaints Cases Complaints Cases Total not investigated 16,610 13,433 13,758 5,393 29,951 18,664 Total investigated 5,168 4,011 1,253 170 6,391 4,159 Informal Investigation 4,673 3,764 428 118 5,087 3,871 Of which: 5% more Upheld/Action taken 4,555 3,663 397 98 4,938 3,751 Not upheld/No action complaints were taken 118 101 31 20 149 120 resolved last year Formal Investigation 495 247 825 52 1,304 288 than in 2019 Of which: Upheld/Upheld in part 258 132 254 18 505 145 Not upheld 123 23 451 18 567 38 Withdrawn cases 114 92 120 16 232 105 Total complaints and cases resolved 21,778 17,444 15,011 5,563 36,342 22,823 * Both non-broadcast and broadcast figures include multimedia figures which appear only once in the ‘overall totals’ column. 24 / ASA and CAP Annual Report 2020 ASA Council

The ASA Council is the independent jury that decides whether In 2020, we sadly said goodbye to Kate Bee, Shireen Peermohamed and Sam Younger, an ad has broken the Advertising Codes. The Council also who came to the end of their terms of service. We were delighted to welcome operates as the Board of the ASA. Richard Lloyd OBE, Krystle Fonyonga and Dr Rebecca Rumbul in April.

Chairman Independent members

Lord Currie of Marylebone Aaqil Ahmed Krystle Fonyonga Chairman of the ASA; Media Consultant, Aaqil Ahmed Barrister, and General Counsel Founding Chairman of Media Consultancy; former Head at UK Sport Ofcom and the Competition of Religion and Ethics at BBC and Markets Authority and

Advertising industry background members B N B N

Zaid Al-Qassab Tess Alps Wesley Henderson Richard Lloyd OBE Chief Marketing Officer and Inclusion BAFTA member. Fellow Royal TV Past Director, Consumer Council Senior Independent Director, & Diversity Director, Channel 4; Society. Previously Founder CEO and for Northern Ireland; Education Financial Conduct Authority; Trustee, WaterAid UK; Board Member, Chair of Thinkbox, Chair PHD Group Team Leader Northern Ireland for Chair, Independent Parliamentary Creative Diversity Network and Director various ITV companies Cats Protection Standards Authority; Vice Chair, Money and Mental Health Institute

B N B B N B N

Reg Bailey Tracey Follows Suzanne McCarthy* Dr Rebecca Rumbul Former Marketing Director; Founder of futures consultancy, Chairs, Depaul UK, Fire Standards Head of Research at mySociety, Member, BBFC Advisory Panel Futuremade; former CSO of Board, Joint Audit Panel MOPAC Trustee at Hansard Society, on Children’s Viewing, Chair, J Walter Thompson and APG Chair and MPS; Vice Chair, Valuation Representative Claimant at YMCA England & Wales. Tribunal Service The Privacy Collective

B N B N B N B N

Key Kirsten Miller Neil Stevenson Nita P. Woods B Broadcast Council Digital Marketing Executive; Chief Executive of the Scottish Legal Social entrepreneur, championing Former Managing Partner of Maxus Complaints Commission, and Chair sustainability, small business and N Non-broadcast Council of Changing the Chemistry social enterprise. Business advisor to the Mayor of London's Economic Action Partnership * The Senior Independent member sits in place of the Chairman when the Chairman is unable to attend the meeting or has a declared interest in the case being discussed.

N B N B N 25 Committees of Advertising Practice

Chaired by James Best, CAP Committee of Advertising Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) Practice (BCAP) and BCAP are responsible for writing and updating the UK Advertising Association Advertising Association Advertising Codes. Cinema Advertising Association British Telecommunications plc Data & Marketing Association Channel 4 Television Corporation

Committed to upholding the highest Direct Selling Association Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd standards in non-broadcast and broadcast Incorporated Society of British Advertisers Commercial Broadcasters Association advertising, the Committees are made up of representatives of advertisers, agencies, Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Data & Marketing Association media owners and other industry groups. Institute of Promotional Marketing Electronic Retailing Association UK

Internet Advertising Bureau Incorporated Society of British Advertisers

Mobile UK Institute of Practitioners in Advertising

News Media Association ITV plc

Outsmart Out Of Home Ltd Sky UK Ltd

Professional Publishers Association STV Central Ltd

Proprietary Association of Great Britain Clearcast*

Royal Mail Radiocentre*

Scottish Newspaper Society *

Television on Demand Industry Forum

Clearcast*

Radiocentre* * Clearcast, Radiocentre and S4C have observer status. Advertising Standards Authority Committees of Advertising Practice Designed and produced by Castle House Castle House Friend www.friendstudio.com 37 – 45 Paul Street 37 – 45 Paul Street Print Pureprint Group London EC2A 4LS London EC2A 4LS This report has been printed on Image ® Telephone Telephone Indigo which is FSC certified and made from 100% Elemental Chlorine 020 7492 2222 020 7492 2200 Free (ECF) pulp. The mill and the printer are both certified to ISO 14001 Email Email environmental management system. [email protected] [email protected] The report was printed by a CarbonNeutral® printer. www.asa.org.uk www.cap.org.uk @ASA_UK @CAP_UK