A total of 8,318 submissions were made to CopyClear during 2018, according to its annual report for 2018. This represents an increase of 12% on in 2017.
CopyClear is the industry body that offers a pre-vetting service for marketing communications related to alcohol to ensure their compliance with the strict self-regulatory code of the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) which states that alcohol related communications should be consistent with responsible consumption and in no way appeal to children or encourage them to drink.
Of the 9,318 submissions, 7,053 were from Ireland while 1,265 were from overseas. Of the 7,053 Irish submissions, 5,373 were deemed to be compliant, an increase of 10% on 2017 while the remaining 1,045 were deemed to be non-compliant, an 11% increase on the previous year.
Of the overseas submissions, 875 were compliant, an increase of 27% on 2017 while 347 were deemed to be non-compliant, an increase of 113%.
Not surprisingly digital is accounting for an increased amount of submissions and this year a total of 4,264 digital submissions were made. These include 1,707 submissions that related to own online activations – 21% of which were deemed to be non-compliant and 2,557 paid-for online activations, 31% of which were deemed to be non-compliant.
By comparison, of the submissions made by TV just 7% were deemed to be non-compliant while just 3% of radio submissions were deemed to be non-compliant. Of the 1,509 OOH submissions, meanwhile, 18% were deemed to be non-compliant.
“The quantity of submissions during 2018 increased by 12% rising to a total of 8,300. The number of upheld complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland continues to be very low, with only one complaint upheld related to Alcohol Communications for all of 2018, a testament to a system that is working,” says Barry Dooley, Chief Executive of the Association of Advertisers in Ireland (AAI), and a board member of CopyClear.
