Advertising Standards Canada (ASC) has launched its new PSA campaign, ‘Truth in Advertising Matters,’ in the hopes of building the public’s trust in commercials.

The industry’s self-regulatory body creates a new campaign every couple of years, but this one, first announced in April, is bolder and will be noticed by more people, which is good for the industry, Janet Feasby, VP, standards, ASC, tells MiC.

‘We’ve done quite a few (campaigns) over the years,’ she says, ‘and we do our research with consumers, and we find that when they know there’s an organization like ASC and there are standards and we accept and report on complaints, the more that they trust advertisers and advertising.’

The new ads will run nationally on TV and radio, in transit shelters and bus interiors, and are available online at the ASC website.

Cossette in Toronto did the creative.

The 30-second TV spot shows a man catching his daughter trying to sneak out of the house through her bedroom window. When the daughter explains she was just going to the library, a spandex-clad performer tries to help her sell the idea. It ends with the tagline, ‘dressing it up doesn’t make it true.’