The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) released its annual complaints report for the April 2021 to March 2022 period, during which it processed 5,532 advertisements across print, digital and television. The number of complaints in FY22 increased by 25%
Most offensive categories
The number of objectionable ads in FY22 increased by 62%
Education was the most offensive category, accounting for 33% of the objectionable ads
Healthcare and personal care followed with 16% and 11% of the violations
New categories such as crypto and gaming each accounted for 8% of the violating ads
Food & beverage, fashion, e-commerce and realty were some of the other offensive categories
Digital & celebrity ads under the scanner
Nearly 48% of the ads processed belonged to the digital medium while print accounted for 47%
Of the objectionable digital ads, 43% were published on Instagram and 28% on YouTube
Complaints against influencers constituted 29% of total grievances
Complaints regarding celebrity-led ads with misleading claims saw a 41% increase
Celebrity-led ads saw maximum violation of ASCI guidelines, with 92% of complaints upheld
How the complaints held up
Of the 5,532 ads processed, 39% were not contested by the advertiser while 55%were found to be objectionable
Complaints against 4% of the ads were dismissed
The overall compliance rate was 94%
Source of the complaints
Complaints from consumers constituted 21% of the total complaints raised
About 75% of the ads were processed suo-moto by ASCI
Intra-industry and CSO/government complaints stood at 2% each
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