Complaint about your ad - what happens now?

We can act on just one complaint. But with any complaint we receive, our focus is on providing a fair and thorough process for all involved.
                      
If you have recently been contacted by the ASA because someone has complained about your advertising or marketing material then our leaflet ‘Complaint about your ad. What happens now?’ should help guide you through our complaints procedure, or you can call us on 020 7492 2222 for advice. You can also view our detailed complaints handling procedure for both broadcast and non-broadcast advertising.

Are you a homeopath or alternative/complementary therapist?

Read our information on how we are dealing with current complaints about homeopathy claims in advertising or how we might deal with multiple complaints about specific sectors.

Working together

We prefer to work by persuasion and consensus and, where appropriate, we will resolve issues informally. Informally resolved cases are not put before the ASA Council and no adjudication is published, so it means we can resolve problems far more quickly than by formal investigation. It is worth noting that around 80% of the complaints we receive don’t raise any problems and in these cases we simply answer the complaint without the need to contact the advertiser. Read more about how we achieve a healthy working relationship with advertisers and media owners to resolve complaints and investigations as quickly as possible.

Training and advice

We work with the Committee of Advertising Practice to educate and train advertisers on the rules to help prevent problem ads from appearing in the first place. And the CAP Copy Advice website provides a wealth of information for advertisers and marketers to help them comply with the Advertising Codes.