- The latest burst of the successful multi-media campaign to build awareness of the advertising regulator has now gone live across all media
- The campaign is a key pillar of the Advertising Association’s Trust Action Plan
- Many media owners have increased their donations to the initiative
- Compare the Market’s Aleksandr the meerkat features in the updated television advert. Netflix and Waitrose join the campaign with inventory donations
London, 26th August 2026: With the backing of iconic brands and generous donations of media inventory, a new burst of the ASA awareness campaign has started across TV, digital channels, out-of-home sites, radio, cinema, press and magazines and will run for eight weeks. Brand partners Churchill, Compare the Market, Marmite and Tesco have once again lent their famous straplines to the distinctive campaign creative by Leith, with media planning by WPP Media’s EssenceMediacom. The awareness campaign is a key pillar of the Advertising Association’s ongoing campaign to protect and build public trust in advertising.
There are two key new additions to the media owners supporting the campaign this year. Netflix will run the 30 second advert on their ad-supported plan and Waitrose will feature a bespoke ASA advert in the ‘Your Week In Food’ newspaper given out in stores.
The campaign aims to increase public awareness of the advertising regulator and reassure them that adverts are regulated across all media. In 2025 the ASA resolved over 40,000 complaints about 25,397 ads, resulting in 22,383 ads being amended or removed. Their AI-powered Active Ad Monitoring system processed 60 million ads, allowing them to proactively identify and tackle issues in high-priority areas.
Miles Lockwood, Director of Complaints and Investigations at the ASA said: “Advertising is part of everyday life, so it’s important people know we’re working to make sure ads are legal, decent, honest and truthful. This campaign plays a vital role in helping raise awareness of the ASA and our role in making sure ads are responsible, which in turn helps build trust in the advertising people see. We’re hugely grateful to the brands and media owners supporting the campaign again this year and particularly pleased to welcome some new partners on board.”
Since the campaign began in 2022, public trust in adverts has risen from 30% to a five-year high of 40% in 2025 – but the recovery remains fragile. To help continue to drive the upwards trend, in July 26, the Advertising Association launched its new industry Trust Action Plan in Westminster, with Action 1 calling on the industry to ‘Scale up the ASA Public Awareness Campaign’. The campaign has a proven effect on whether people trust the advertising they see, with people who have seen or heard the campaign ads being twice as likely to trust adverts as those who have not.*
Stephen Woodford, CEO of the Advertising Association, said: “In our centenary year, where we are doubling down on the importance of building trust in advertising. The ASA awareness campaign is a key driver of public trust, so it is fantastic to see the industry pulling together to support Action 1 of our latest Trust Action Plan and scale up the ASA campaign. We can’t thank the media owners enough, many of whom have significantly increased their donations, alongside Leith and WPP Media’s EssenceMediacom who kindly donate their time and expertise.”
Tom Wallis, Chief Customer Officer of Compare the Market said: “Our purpose is to help make great financial decision making a breeze for everyone, so customers are at the heart of everything we do at Compare the Market. We’re delighted to lend our much-loved meerkat Aleksandr to the ASAs latest campaign, helping to deliver the important message that advertising is a regulated industry.”
The following organisations have kindly committed to supporting the campaign with donated inventory;
Acast, Actual Radio, Alight Media, Bauer Media Group, Bauer Media Outdoor, Channel 4, Digital Cinema Media, Goalhanger, Google, ITV, London Evening Standard, MediaForce, Media Smart, Meta, Mail Metro Media, Netflix, News UK, NextGen Media, Ocean Outdoor, Pearl & Dean, Pinterest, Reach, Snap Inc., Sky, Spotify, STV, STV Radio, Telegraph Media Group, Tesco.com, TikTok, UK Community Radio Network, Waitrose, X.
