This is the shortest and most achievable of the complaint routes described on this site, and the one most likely to produce a visible result. It takes about fifteen minutes done properly.
Who can complain, and about what
Anyone who has seen an advertisement can complain about it. You do not need to be a customer, to have been harmed, or to have spent anything. Complaints are free.
The subject matter is the advertisement, not the service. If your concern is that treatment was poor, that is a different route. If your concern is that the advertising made claims that were misleading, unsubstantiated, irresponsible, or that it advertised a prescription only medicine to the public, this is the route.
- Capture the advertisement now: screenshot, link, date, platform, and the account or publication.
- Write down exactly what it claims, quoting the wording rather than paraphrasing it.
- Find the relevant rule in the advertising code and note the section.
- Go to the ASA website and use its complaints route.
- Give the advertisement, where and when you saw it, the claim at issue, and the rule you say it engages.
- Attach or link your evidence, and keep your own copy of everything you submit.
Capture the advertisement before you do anything else
Advertising changes, and social media posts are deleted. Capture it first.
Screenshot the whole advertisement including any surrounding context that shows where it appeared. For social media, capture the account name, the post, the date and any advertising disclosure or absence of one. For a website, save the page and note the address. For print, photograph the page and note the publication and date. For a video, record the screen if you can, and note the platform and time.
Include the date visibly, and keep the original files. If the advertisement is later removed, your capture is the only record, and a complaint without evidence of what was said is difficult to consider.
- Open
- The Advertising Standards Authority
asa.org.uk - Type in
- Follow the site's route for making a complaint. Have ready the advertisement, where and when you saw it, your evidence, and the rule you are relying on.
- A good result looks like
- A complaint form that asks for exactly what you have prepared, and published rulings on similar advertising that show how the rule has been applied before.
- An ambiguous result looks like
- A complaint that is really about clinical care or about money, which the ASA cannot consider. Split those out and send them to the right bodies instead.
- What it does not prove
- That your complaint will be upheld, or that a ruling will be published. Not every complaint results in a formal investigation, and complaints about the same advertisement are often considered together.
- Note
- Search the published rulings first. Seeing how the rule has been applied helps you frame the complaint in terms the system already recognises.
Identify the rule, in the code's own words
You are not required to be a lawyer and the ASA will assess the advertisement itself. But a complaint that identifies the rule is far easier to consider, and identifying it takes a few minutes in the code.
The recurring ones in this sector are set out in what an advertising rule breach looks like: prescription only medicines advertised to the public, misleading claims, claims made without evidence, irresponsible advertising, misleading price claims, and claims about qualifications or accreditation that cannot be substantiated.
Quote the wording of the advertisement, then state which rule you say it engages, then say why in one or two sentences. That is the whole structure of an effective complaint.
| What you noticed | How to state it | Rule area |
|---|---|---|
| A toxin brand named in an advert | Quote the wording and where it appeared | Prescription only medicines |
| A results claim with no source | Quote the claim and note no evidence is cited | Substantiation |
| Before and after images that look inconsistent | Describe lighting, angle, expression and missing interval | Misleading presentation |
| A qualification or accreditation claim | Quote it and note what you checked and found | Qualifications and substantiation |
| A price that excluded compulsory charges | Quote the headline price and the actual total | Price claims |
| An advert appearing to target young people | Describe the placement and content | Social responsibility |
A framework written by this publication to organise the procedure. It is not a measurement, a guideline or a regulator's classification.
Writing it
Keep it short and factual. A complaint of a few clear sentences with a screenshot attached is more effective than several pages of context.
Describe what the advertisement says rather than what you infer about the business. Avoid statements about clinical quality, which are outside the ASA's remit and dilute the point. If several separate claims are at issue, list them separately rather than merging them into one grievance.
What happens next
The ASA assesses complaints, may take the matter up with the advertiser informally, and in some cases investigates formally and publishes a ruling. Where an advertisement is found to breach the codes, the advertiser is required to change or withdraw it, and the ruling is published.
Two realistic expectations. Not every complaint results in a published ruling, and complaints about the same advertisement are often considered together. And the process addresses the advertising, not your individual situation. You will not receive compensation through it and should not expect to.
Complaints that belong elsewhere at the same time
Advertising is frequently the visible edge of something with other dimensions. A misleading claim about qualifications is an advertising matter and may also be a matter for the professional regulator of the individual concerned, and possibly for trading standards. A claim that a prescription only medicine is being advertised may also interest the MHRA.
There is no bar on raising the same underlying facts with more than one body, each within its own remit. The map is in who you complain to for each type of provider.
Why bother
Because this is one of the few actions available to a member of the public in this field that changes anything beyond their own case. A published ruling is a public record, it is searchable, and it changes what an advertiser may say to everyone who comes after you.
It is also, unusually here, a route that does not require you to have been harmed. You can act on something you noticed, on behalf of people who have not noticed it yet, in about fifteen minutes.