U.S.-Based BBB National Programs Announced as Winner for “Best Sectoral Initiative” by International Council of Advertising Self-Regulation

This press release was published on June 15, 2021 by ICAS. You can find the original here. 

France, India, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US were honored for effective advertising self-regulation

On 15 June 2021, the International Council for Advertising Self-Regulation (ICAS) announced the winners of its second edition of the ICAS Global Awards. The objective of the ICAS Awards is to reward initiatives that contribute to responsible marketing practices and a more effective and impactful self-regulatory system. 

Four categories of Awards were open to the ICAS Self-Regulatory Organization network members. All entries were reviewed, and winners selected by an international independent jury of self-regulatory experts, chaired by Ms Angela Mills Wade, Executive Director, European Publishers Council. The other jury members were Carla Michelotti, Consultant, Retired Chief Legal/Government/Corporate Affairs Officer at Leo Burnett Worldwide and Vice-President of the International Advertising Association (IAA), Rui Neves dos Santos, Vice President & Associate General Counsel, Procter & Gamble International Operations, S.A., Raelene Martin, Deputy Director – Trade and Investment, ICC and Andrew McCowan, Lecturer at the University of Technology in Sidney, and Strategy Director at the Core Agency. 

At a virtual ceremony on 15 June, the following winners were announced: 

• For Best Awareness-Raising Initiative: ASCI, the Advertising Standards Council of India, for their impactful ASCI Aston (scroll) which ran across all TV Channels, supported by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) in India which achieved an exceptional reach and maximized awareness about the SRO.
• For Thought-Leadership: the joint initiative of the SROs in France (ARPP), the Netherlands (SRC) and the UK (ASA) for their collaboration to share learnings, best practice and ultimately technological tools including software and algorithms to better regulate the growing digital landscape;
• For Best Sectoral Initiative: BBB National Programs in the US for their Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council, an initiative developed to promote truth and transparency in the direct selling industry including an effective proactive monitoring of the marketplace;
• Special Prize: ASCI, the Advertising Standards Council of India, for their expansion of the suo motu monitoring of misleading claims in ads across 3 000 digital platforms.

The ICAS Awards Jury also gave two entries a special mention due to their valuable and inspirational promotion of effective self-regulatory practices. This special recognition was given to:

• AUTOCONTROL (Spain) for their Awareness Campaign that was supported by the European Commission;
• ASCI, the Advertising Standards Council of India, for their Guidelines for “Online Gaming for Real Money Winnings”.

Angela Mills Wade, Executive Director, EPC, and Jury Chairman said:

“Being involved in the ICAS Awards has been a truly rewarding experience, especially working with such a well-qualified and experienced jury and finding out about all the different initiatives of SROs around the world. It was also noteworthy to see how well the SROs have embraced the latest technology including AI to such good effect and that they have been open to tackling new areas such as gaming and influencer marketing in their work. Congratulations to our winners and to all SROs who took part so enthusiastically.”

ICAS applauds all winners and thanks all participants in the ICAS Awards. All the initiatives rewarded contribute to the promotion of effective and meaningful self-regulation, and the encouragement of ethical and responsible marketing and advertising practices. ICAS encourages organizations worldwide to seek inspiration from the winners as well as from the other SROs that had submitted excellent initiatives and to support the development and use of efficient, effective and innovative self-regulatory standards and solutions. ICAS also warmly thanks the jury members for their dedication and efforts.