Advertising council of canada Advertising council of canada

Advertising Council Of Canada – 10 Best Facts!

Advertising Standards Canada is the advertising council of Canada (Check out their official website at https://adstandards.ca/), also known as Ad Standards. Established in 1957, this non-profit body regulates advertising practices. Its headquartered in Canada.

The organization should have members that include over 230 advertisers, advertising agencies, media organizations, and suppliers in the advertising sector. Some of the activities that the organization is engaged in are:

  • Administering the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards. This helps set the acceptable criteria for advertising and helps form the fundamental basis for the review and adjudication of consumers and complaints related to trade.
  • They are administering complaints of consumers that are processed, especially about advertisements that have been currently running in the Canadian media.
  • Providing pre-clearance for advertising in five categories that are also regulated are as follows: children’s, food and non-alcoholic beverages, alcoholic beverages, consumer drugs, and cosmetics.

History of the Advertising Council of Canada

The Canadian advertising industry founded the Canadian Advertising Advisory Board (now known as Ad Standards) to encourage ethical advertising practices. It was in 1963 that the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards (Code) was published.

The CAAB or the Canadian Advertising Advisory Board was known to adopt a bilingual name in 1967. It was thus called the Canadian Advertising Advisory Board or Bureau consultatif de la publicité au Canada.

The reviewing of broadcast advertising to children, which the CAAB developed, was started at the request of the CAAB and CRTC and began in the year 1972.

In 1976, the launch of the Trade Dispute Procedure was seen. After two years, the British Columbia and Alberta Advertising Standards Councils were formed.

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The merger of the CAAB and ASC/CNP forced the creation of The Canadian Advertising Foundation, also known as La foundation Canadienne de la publicité (CAF/FCP), in 1982.

In 1994, the CAF’s Race Relations Advisory Council produced The Color of Your Money on Advertising. The initial Ad Complaints Report, which included case reports, was published in the year 1997.

During the same year, the CAF was renamed Advertising Standards Canada/Les normes Canadiennes de la publicité.

In 1999, people witnessed the launch of the “You respond to advertising – we respond to you,” which was also known to be a public awareness campaign. A second public awareness campaign – “We stand up for advertising standards” – had commenced in 2001.

In 2003, after following a careful Task Force review of the Code, important Code revisions were also published. In the meantime, in 2005, comparative advertising and comparative research guidelines were also published.

Throughout the next ten years, multiple public awareness campaigns continued to be launched. Into the 2010s, campaigns such as: “Truth” (2006), “Dressing it up doesn’t make it true” (2011), and “Creativity is subjective.

The truth isn’t” (2015) were held. The organization was known to have announced the launch of a refreshed corporate identity on August 1, 2017.

Facts About the Advertising Council of Canada

The advertising council of Canada, also known as Advertising Standards Canada or Ad Standards, has a brilliant and talented management team.

The management team comprises Jani Yates, President, and CEO; Catherine Bat, Chief Legal & Policy Officer; Randy Sageman, Director, Member Relations; Danielle Lefrançois, Director, Standards, and Communications (Quebec); Jennifer Finjan, Office Manager/HR Manager and Leore Rosmarin, Legal Counsel.

The  Board of Directors of Ad Standards comprises senior-level executives from advertisers, advertising agencies, and media organizations.

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It is also known to comprise a member-at-large position. These Directors are said to be elected each spring at the Annual Meeting hosted by Ad Standards.

A few of the important facts about the advertising council of Canada that you should know are mentioned as follows.

  1. The advertising council of Canada has The Canadian Code of Advertising Standards as it can set the criteria for different types of advertising acceptable in Canada. The CODE on the official website of the advertising council of Canada refers to the principal instrument of self-regulation of the Canadian advertising industry. The advertising council of Canada created this CODE in the year 1963.
  2. The CODE of the advertising council of Canada consists of 14 provisions that help in setting the criteria for advertising that can be generally acceptable and truthfulfair, and accurate. You can check out the Canadian Code Of Advertising Standards made up by the advertising council of Canada at READ THE CANADIAN CODE OF ADVERTISING STANDARDS
  3. The CODE does not follow the following Canadian advertising:
    • packaging, wrappers as well as labels
    • political advertising as well as advertising for the upcoming election
    • foreign media (especially media that develops outside of Canada and contains the advertising in question) unless the advertiser is a Canadian person or has a Canadian entity
  4. One of the most important parts of the self-regulatory framework of the advertising council of Canada is the Canadian Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CAI). This program was first initiated in 2007 and has helped transform the whole landscape of the type of food and beverage advertisements seen by children below the age of 12 years.
  5. The Canadian Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative or the CAI have successfully expanded its membership and expanded its scope beyond the traditional media. To enhance their nutritional profile, the participants of the CAI have been able to reformulate many products.
  6. Advertising Council of Canada, also known as Ad Standards, has released the 2018 CAI Compliance Report. This report indicates that Participant compliance with their commitments remained excellent in the year 2018. The new uniform nutrition criteria of The Canadian Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative or the CAI were initiated and affected on December 31, 2015. The new criteria of the CAI are supposed to be more science-based, comprehensive, and progressive, and this represents a very important development in the CAI program.
  7. The Advertising Council of Canada or Ad Standards is responsible for the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada (DAAC) AdChoices Accountability Program (AdChoices).
  8. The DAAC AdChoices Program includes the responsibilities of the advertising council of Canada. Such responsibilities of the same are mentioned as follows:
    • Monitoring the companies that are participating and their websites as well as mobile apps for them to comply with the Principles;
    • Investigating as well as responding to the complaints lodged by consumers that concerns non-compliance with the mentioned Principles;
    • Working together as well as collaboratively with the companies which are participating in achieving compliance, and lastly,
    • Publishing reports on the compliance achieved by the companies that are participating

9. Ad Standards- the advertising council of Canada- is known to have published its fifth AdChoices        Accountability Program Compliance Report in May 2020. You can read the report on Latest Report.

10. If you are a member of Ad Standards, then you will be lucky enough to be a member of a community of over             230 people who are some of the leading advertisers in their respective fields, media organizations, and advertising agencies, as well as suppliers to the advertising sector who all together help in shaping the future of advertising self-regulation in Canada.

Why Do You Need to Join the Advertising Council of Canada?

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Suppose you are a member of the Advertising Council of Canada, which is also known as Ad Standards or Advertising Standards Canada.

In that case, you will be able to create truthful, accurate, and fair advertisements. It will help you create a position for your brand in your respective industry and enable you to lead your brand to victory.

Moreover, if you are a member of the advertising council of Canada, there is a more likely chance that ordinary people will trust the advertisement of your brand more if they know that you are a member of Ad Standards.

Most people also agree that advertisers too should have some rules and regulations that they should follow to avoid any conflicts.

It is also believed that digital advertising should be regulated as much as traditional media.

Even though there are different ways to advertise your brand and make it famous in your respective industry, it is best suggested that you become a member of the advertising council of Canada because being a member will allow you to receive certain benefits that you would not be fortunate enough to receive otherwise.

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Benefits of Members of the Advertising Council of Canada

  • By being a member of the Advertising Council of Canada, you will be able to receive access to the experienced and expert staff of Ad Standards’ to receive consultations and advice from them.
  • You will also be able to get presentations that have been especially customized and tailored so that it suits your industry and brands along with your needs.
  • Become a member of the advertising council of Canada. You will also be able to receive updates, which will help in providing insights into all the evolving and emerging regulatory and self-regulatory matters.
  • You will be fortunate enough to be able to receive member discounts as well as networking opportunities at any Ad Standards Events.
  • Being a member of the Advertising Council of Canada will allow you to use the member logo of Ad Standards on all the corporate communications material:

Closing Thoughts

Advertising your brand is of extreme importance to gain popularity in your field. To do so, you need to know about the top advertising agencies in Canada so that you are capable of being the best. (To know this, check out: Top 6 Advertising Agencies in Canada.)

To read more, click here.

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Last Updated on by Priyanshi Sharma

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