The mailing for Health Laboratories was condemned by the Advertising Standards Authority as "one of the most flagrant and deceitful breaches of the [ASA] codes ever seen".
Complaints about direct mail increased by 51%, making it the biggest source of complaints resolved in 2001. The watchdog said that 25% of all complaints it received concerned direct mail.
Away from direct mail, a TBWA\London poster for FCUK's fcukinkybugger.com elicited 142 complaints, leading the watchdog to rule that the ad brought advertising into disrepute. The ASA reached agreement with French Connection and agreed that all future FCUK advertising would be pre-approved by the Committee of Advertising Practice copy advice team.
The rise of direct mail to the top of the complaints league came as the ASA revealed that more than 10,000 ads were complained about in 2001, an increase of 17.6%.
The ASA said it conducted formal investigations into 866 ads and, as a result, 651 ads had to be changed or withdrawn. This is out of a total of a record 12,589 complaints.
The proportion of complaints resolved about taste and decency matters fell from 28% in 2000 to 20% in 2001. The ASA said that, as with previous years, the majority of the complaints concerned misleading advertising. However, eight of the 10 most complained about ads in 2001 were objected to on the grounds of offensiveness.
Complaints about internet advertising were also on the increase with a total of 750 complaints, an increase of 50%. The year also marked a mobile first, with the ASA upholding a complaint about an SMS text messaging ad.
As well as resolving more complaints in 2001, the ASA did so in a faster time. The average length of time taken to resolve a complaint fell from 31 to 21 days.
In his introduction to the report, ASA chairman Lord Borrie QC reminded the ad industry of its responsibility to maintain standards.
"If advertisers, or agencies, feel inclined to excuse themselves from a breach of the codes on the grounds that 'only one person complained', I would urge them to think again. The success of the system, which is watched carefully in both Brussels and Whitehall, will be judged on complaints and not complainants. It is the responsibility of the industry to exercise self-restraint in order to secure advertising freedom in the future," he said.
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