Of the 1,394 formal complaints that were made to the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) in 2014, 92 were found to be in breach of the ASAI Code by the independent Complaints Committee according to its annual report.
In 2014, as in other years, the principal reason advertisements were found to be in breach of the Code was that they were considered to be misleading. In 2014, 64% of the complaints made were on the basis that an advertisement was misleading with almost 24% made on the basis that an advertisement was offensive. Other issues dealt with by the ASAI included complaints relating to alcohol advertising, children, employment and business opportunities, financial services, food and non-alcoholic beverages, health and beauty claims and slimming claims.
In relation to the media in which the advertisements complained of appeared, once again digital media formed the largest group at 606 complaints. Complaints relating to broadcast media (TV and radio combined) were at 450. Elsewhere OOH accounted for 126 complaints while print accounted for another 124.
A sectoral breakdown shows that the leisure sector accounted for most of the complaints with 275 received by the ASAI. It was followed by the telecommunications sector (182), household (143) and food and beverages (127). Financial services and alcohol accounted for just 81 and 57 of the complaints respectively.
