Out-of-home (OOH) ads reach 97% of UK adults each week, according to the marketing body for the OOH advertising industry, Outsmart, and yet they account for just 2% of complaints.
Last year, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 1,135 complaints about OOH ads (this excludes the 448 complaints it received about point-of-sale material). To put this number into perspective, the ASA recorded a total of 40,533 complaints across all media channels in 2023.*
‘[OOH] is the only commercial media channel that reaches over 90% [of people] but it accounts for just 2% of ASA complaints,’ said Tim Lumb, director of Outsmart. ‘The essential reason is careful copy-approval processes, and granular panel location and audience data.
‘OOH is unique in that it displays adverts only in real-world public spaces, to be viewed by the public at large. There is an expectation our adverts do not breach public trust and sensibilities but are nonetheless eye-catching and thought-provoking. This is why creativity is so important to OOH campaigns. As well as their advertising codes, the ASA’s free copy-advice service is also helpful,’ Lumb said.
In other words, the public is less likely to complain about OOH ads because of their content, rather than the media channel itself.
Lumb added that Outsmart members — including media owners such as Clear Channel UK, Global, and JCDecaux UK — do not allow ads promoting products that are high in fat, salt, or sugar (HFSS), alcohol, gambling, and vapes within ‘100 metres of a school boundary’.
‘We know what we can display and where we can display it,’ he said.
According to Outsmart’s latest report, the OOH sector’s revenue grew by 7.7% last year and hit a record-breaking £1.4 billion. Lumb told MediaCat that OOH makes up about 4% of all UK ad spend.
*The ASA is yet to reveal the total number of complaints it received in 2024.
Featured image: Mark Saxby / Unsplash
