Upholding Ethics and Best Practices in Marketing

Strengthening Trust Through Excellence

We aim to delight and inform consumers through ethical excellence in marketing. For over seven decades, the marketing industry's ethics and self-regulatory programs have been dedicated to attaining consumer trust through transparency, honesty, and accountability. These efforts build consumer trust in the marketing process, promoting brand innovation and growth.

View the Latest Ethics Report (PDF)
Explore ongoing compliance cases

Setting the Standard for Ethical Marketing

As a strong advocate for self-regulation over government intervention, the ANA collaborates with its members to establish and enforce rigorous ethical standards. This commitment to self-regulation remains a central pillar of the ANA’s mission, reflected in two primary areas:

Consumer Help: Engaging directly with consumers, helping them distinguish between legitimate marketing, fundraising, and potential fraud, as well as providing avenues to report suspicious or misleading marketing activities.
Industry Education and Thought Leadership: Ensuring organizations are aware of and comply with established industry ethics, thereby fostering consumer trust and reinforcing accountability throughout the marketing process.

A Framework for Responsible Growth

The ANA advances ethical marketing through our Ethics Code of Marketing Best Practices (Ethics Code). Serving as a North Star and guiding framework for the industry, it outlines core principles, detailed guidelines, resources and practical examples of ethical marketing applicable to marketing, advertising, and fundraising. The Ethics Code is at the heart of our self-regulatory program, empowering companies to implement accepted industry standards and guiding our efforts to address and resolve marketing-related complaints.

Key aspects covered in the Ethics Code include:

Providing clear, honest terms and conditions in marketing.
Providing information about data collection, sharing and data protection practices through notice.
Providing choices for marketing messages consumers receive and honoring those choices.
Being truthful and substantiating marketing claims and offers.
Portraying individuals accurately and respectfully in all marketing materials.
Providing guidance for ethical marketing using AI and other technologies.

Your Voice Matters

We are committed to addressing consumer concerns with diligence. To learn more or to submit a complaint, please visit our Consumer Trust Center.