Nearly 48% of the 5,532 ads ASCI processed were digital ones, the report said. With its influencer guidelines coming into force last year, complaints against influencers comprised 29% of all grievances.
Complaints regarding misleading claims in ads featuring celebrities saw a 41% increase over the previous year. A staggering 92% of these were found to have violated ASCI’s guidelines.
The report, titled ‘Complaints Insights 2021-22’, said education remains the single largest violative sector, followed by healthcare and personal care.
Of the 5,532 ads ASCI processed, 33% of complaints were from the education sector, 16% were from healthcare, 11% from personal care, and 8% each from crypto, gaming, and food & beverage.
The report said personal care ads saw a 263% increase in complaints from the previous year, followed by food & beverages at 31%.
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The report said ASCI processed a total of 1,593 complaints against influencers in 2021-22. The top categories were crypto (24.16%), personal care (23.2%), fashion (16.3%), ecommerce (8.4%) and F&B (8%).
“Influencers have become quite a key component in objectionable ads. Nearly 29% of all ads featured an influencer, and were violative of our influencer guidelines or other guidelines. It’s a really large single category,” said Manisha Kapoor, CEO & secretary general, ASCI, at a press conference on Tuesday.
“I think influencers are also coming to terms with the idea of responsible advertising and what they can or can’t do,” she added.
Of the 5,532 ads processed, 39% were not contested by the advertiser, 55% were deemed objectionable after an investigation, and complaints against 4% were dismissed. In all, 94% of ads that ASCI processed needed changes to make them compliant with ASCI’s code.
ASCI chairman Subhash Kamath said, “2021-22 has been a remarkable year that marks a fundamental shift toward digital media. The year has brought about new challenges and ASCI has heavily invested in technology to monitor new and dynamic ad formats. Our new complaints system now makes it easier for consumers to register a complaint, and for advertisers to respond to it.”
