Age Discrimination in Advertising? Long-Term Trends in Complaints to the German Advertising Standards Council (2003–2024)
Keywords:
Age, Advertising, Age Discrimination Complaints, Quantitative, Time SeriesAbstract
Against the backdrop of demographic change, this quantitative study examines the development of age-discriminatory advertising in Germany using complaints submitted to the German Advertising Standards Council (Deutscher Werberat) from 2003 to 2024. The Deutsche Werberat is a self-regulatory body of the advertising industry that receives complaints about advertising content and evaluates them for violations of recognized ethical standards. Its goal is to promote responsible advertising and to publicly reprimand or request changes to misleading or discriminatory content. In total, over 11,000 complaints were submitted during the 22-year observation period, including those directly related to discrimination against older individuals. The analysis shows that while complaints concerning age discrimination remain consistently low in relative terms, their absolute number has increased. This pattern follows a nonlinear trajectory and exhibits a more complex development. Advertising content related to entertainment electronics, services, and financial products were among the most frequently criticized categories. This study provides a data-driven foundation for understanding societal preceptions of age-discriminatory advertising and contributes to the promotion of realistic and inclusive images of aging in public discourse.
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