In this episode John Wiltshire hosts Jani Yates, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ad Standards, to discuss ad content regulations, impact, and consumer trust.In order to provide context around pandemic references, please note this conversation took place in October of 2020.

Here are some interview highlights:

• Need for Ad Standards (1:52): The ad standards industry has been in place for 63 years, with a primary focus of building consumer trust. It also highlights the need for self-regulation. Self-regulation bodies are non-profit and non government funded organizations that handle different areas of consumer complaints on behalf of the industry.
• Advertisement-Related Consumer Complaint System (3:23): There is an online complaint system and a consumer panel that reviews customer complaints. The concern is taken to the advertiser and provides them with opportunities to respond. It's essential for the consumer panel to ensure advertisers amend the ads in question to resolve customer concerns.
• Advertisement Violation Code Categories (5:01): There are 14 different clauses that highlight the importance of the code. These are based on the International Chamber of Commerce's advertising code. The top 3 include clarity and price issues, safety, and inappropriate depictions and misrepresentations.
• Importance of Taglines (7:12): The initial tagline for Ad Standards 4 years ago was 'truth in advertising matters'. After careful review of language and communication, the tagline was changed to 'truthful, fair and accurate'. These are the best representation of what Ad Standards do.
• Government Involvement (8:16): All countries who are part of the International Chamber of Commerce are self-regulating organizations. There is also a European group for self-regulatory organizations. One important thing we follow in Canada is pre-clearance: a concept that is not in practice in many other countries.

For more about advertising laws, trends, and consumer issues 🎧 please listen to Jani Yates' conversation with CMA's own John Wiltshire.