Advertising Regulatory Board

Advertising Regulatory Board Complaints about Advertising in South Africa

03/06/2026

The Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) has dismissed complaints against a television advertisement for Wildebeest Brandewyn...

๐— ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐—ช๐˜†๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—–๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€, ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—”๐—ฅ๐—• ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐— ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ.Wynand will be taking over from Asanda Gcoyi as the ARB's Vapour Products As...
13/05/2026

๐— ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐—ช๐˜†๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—–๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€, ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—”๐—ฅ๐—• ๐—•๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐— ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ.

Wynand will be taking over from Asanda Gcoyi as the ARB's Vapour Products Association of South Africa (VPSA) representative.

Wynand Claassens is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa with over 25 years of legal experience. He holds BCom (Law) and LLB degrees from the University of Pretoria, as well as a postgraduate diploma in International Mergers and Acquisitions from the University of South Africa.

In 2009, he founded Claassens & Associates Attorneys, a boutique corporate law firm. His areas of expertise include mergers and acquisitions, competition law, contract negotiation, and the drafting of corporate and commercial agreements. Wynand serves a diverse local and international client base, with a strong focus on the engineering, mining, petroleum, and software sectors.

He has also developed significant legal expertise in the va**ng industry, having served as external legal counsel to Twisp (Pty) Ltd from its inception in 2009. He has since 2016 been a board member of the Va**ng Products Association of South Africa (VPASA) and has as from 2019 served as its chairperson, recently re-elected for a further two-year term. In these roles, he provides strategic legal guidance on competition law, regulatory compliance, and corporate governance. Wynand plays a pivotal role in VPASAโ€™s engagements with statutory and self-regulatory bodies such as SANS and NRCS, contributing to efforts to regularize and advance the va**ng industry in S.A.

His early career in South Africaโ€™s agricultural futures trading market and subsequent experience in the UK financial markets honed his analytical skills and meticulous attention to detailโ€”qualities that continue to deliver value to both clients and colleagues.

''๐ผ๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘”๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›, ๐‘Ž ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘ข๐‘๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘’๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘˜ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘๐‘™๐‘–๐‘š๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘’๐‘ฅ๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘ค๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘ฃ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘  ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘™๐‘“-๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘”๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘ฆ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘”๐‘’๐‘›๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘–๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘ . ๐ด๐‘…๐ต ๐‘Ž๐‘โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘”โ„Ž ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ฆ-๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ฃ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘  ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘›๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘Ž ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘”๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘š๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘†๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘กโ„Ž ๐ด๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž. ๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐ด๐‘…๐ต ๐‘’๐‘ฅ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘’๐‘›๐‘’๐‘“๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘”๐‘’๐‘›๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘  ๐‘š๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›.'' - Wynand Claassens

A snapshot of April 2026๐Ÿ“ธ ... please read up on our ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐˜€ of last month. You can also view and download it from our...
08/05/2026

A snapshot of April 2026๐Ÿ“ธ ... please read up on our ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐˜€ of last month.

You can also view and download it from our website here ๐Ÿ“https://www.arb.org.za/linked-downloads/2026-April%20Highlights.pdf

If you want this newsletter and other industry related news delivered to your inbox, please subscribe to our newsletter here ๐Ÿ“ฌhttps://www.arb.org.za/Subscribe_to_eNewsletter/

๐—›๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ด๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ ๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜, ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„ โ€ฆ.''Every year since 2011, Google has shared data detailing the acti...
29/04/2026

๐—›๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—š๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ด๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ ๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜, ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„ โ€ฆ.

''Every year since 2011, Google has shared data detailing the actions weโ€™ve taken across our ads systems to protect users and stop bad actors. Now, we have released our 2025 Ads Safety Report, highlighting how we are harnessing the power of Gemini to stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated threats.

You can find the full details in our blog post ๐Ÿ‘‰ https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/2025-ads-safety-report/ and full report ๐Ÿ‘‰https://services.google.com/fh/files/blogs/global_2025_adssafetyreport.pdf

Key highlights from 2025 include:
โ€ข Proactive Harm Prevention: Our systems caught over 99% of policy-violating ads before they ever served to a user.
โ€ข Global Scale: We blocked or removed over 8.1 billion ads and suspended over 24.9 million advertiser accounts.
โ€ข AI-Enhanced Precision: Our use of Gemini and LLMs allowed us to reduce incorrect advertiser suspensions by 80%, ensuring we protect legitimate businesses while maintaining rigorous safety standards.
โ€ข Combating Scams: We removed over 602 million ads and suspended 4 million accounts specifically associated with scam activity. This work remains a core pillar of our ongoing commitment to tackling fraudulent ads.
โ€ข Increased Transparency: This year, weโ€™ve expanded our localized ads safety data to include 14 regional deep dives, providing specific enforcement snapshots for Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Tรผrkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

While we saw an increase in ad removals globally due to AI-enabled bulk ad creation, our improved detection accuracy has allowed us to be more surgical in our enforcement.

There is much more detail in the full report regarding our work on election integrity and safety-by-design efforts.''

A snapshot of March 2026๐Ÿ“ธ ... please read up on our ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐˜€ of last month. You can also view and download it on our ...
07/04/2026

A snapshot of March 2026๐Ÿ“ธ ... please read up on our ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐—น๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐˜€ of last month.

You can also view and download it on our website here ๐Ÿ“https://www.arb.org.za/linked-downloads/March%202026%20Highlights.pdf

If you want this newsletter and other industry related news delivered to your inbox, please subscribe to our newsletter here ๐Ÿ“ฌ https://www.arb.org.za/Subscribe_to_eNewsletter/

17/03/2026

Following last week''s AGM, we are pleased to welcome the new incoming Chairperson of the Board, Chris Borain, who represents the IAB.

The Vice Chair for the next 2 years will be Martin Neethling who represents The Marketing Association Of South Africa (MASA).

The chairing of the Board is rotated between the 3 founding members in 2 year cycles:
๐Ÿ”น IAB SA
๐Ÿ”น MASA
๐Ÿ”น ACA

The ARB extends it's enormous thanks to outgoing Chair, Karabo Denalane.

hashtag hashtag

Watch our CEO featured in the "In Gesprek Onthul'' episode about online gambling in South Africa. It will air today Mond...
16/03/2026

Watch our CEO featured in the "In Gesprek Onthul'' episode about online gambling in South Africa. It will air today Monday, 16 March 2026 at 20:00 on kykNET, DStv channel 144

If you miss it, it will be made available on DStv CatchUp.

Gail Schimmel Yasmin Laher kykNET TV

kykNET

The ARB held its 2026 AGM yesterday in Sandown.Thank you to:๐Ÿ’  TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris\Jhb and Karabo Denalane for hosting us๐Ÿ’ ...
12/03/2026

The ARB held its 2026 AGM yesterday in Sandown.

Thank you to:
๐Ÿ’  TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris\Jhb and Karabo Denalane for hosting us
๐Ÿ’  Sibylle Stanciu-Loeckx and Andrew Taylor for speaking
๐Ÿ’  and ARB staff, board and committees for all the work they have done through the year

10/03/2026

Only two days to go.

Still unsure how to make sure youโ€™re meeting your RSM point requirements? This is your chance to get clarity.

Join Gail Schimmel from the Advertising Regulatory Board for a practical breakdown of how to earn your RSM points and a live Q&A on the MAC Charter.

Secure your spot:
https://ow.ly/4K2g50YkXhU

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