ICAS

The International Council for Advertising Self-Regulation

ICAS announces winners of the 2025 Global Awards at Annual Meetings in Mumbai

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  • Ambitious climate change initiatives, dark patterns research, influencer marketing efforts, and training programs are among the winning entries of this year’s Global Awards.
  • CONAR Brazil wins the ICAS Special Recognition Award.
  • ASCI India wins the first-ever Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award, celebrating ICAS’s partnership with the Unstereotype Alliance.

On 17 March 2025, the International Council for Advertising Self-Regulation (ICAS) held its Global Awards Ceremony during the ICAS annual meetings  in Mumbai, India.

The ICAS Awards reward initiatives that contribute to responsible marketing practices and a more effective and impactful self-regulatory system. In 2025, a new award category, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award, was launched in collaboration with the Unstereotype Alliance.

All entries were reviewed and winners selected by an international independent jury of self-regulatory experts, chaired by Jeffrey A. Greenbaum, Chairman of the Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance (GALA) and Managing Partner of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.  

Jury Members this year were:

The following winners were announced: 

Excellence Award

Winner: Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)
Project: Conscious Patterns Study
ASCI’s study established a baseline on dark patterns in India’s online ecosystem, providing actionable resources to guide developers, marketers, and designers toward ethical practices.

Inspiration Award

Winner: Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) of South Africa
Project: Advertising Regulatory Board Training Course
This initiative developed a recognized ARB qualification that extends beyond personalized training, enabling broader accessibility and allowing participants to enhance their CVs while earning professional development points.

Inspiration Award

Winner: Romanian Advertising Council (RAC)
Project: Influencer Marketing Best Practices
RAC was honored for its efforts to raise awareness of self-regulation in influencer marketing, emphasizing ethical behavior online and strengthening RAC’s monitoring of influencer marketing activities.

Innovation Award

Winner: Stichting Reclame Code (SRC), Netherlands
Project: www.influencerregels.com
SRC launched a comprehensive website addressing influencer marketing, featuring advertising regulations, e-learning, certification, and a professional register. This initiative raises standards and awareness among creators, agents, advertisers, and platforms in an innovative way.

Sustainability Award

Winner: Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), UK
Project: Climate Change and the Environment Project
ASA received this award for its ambitious initiative aimed at ensuring UK advertising regulation contributes to tackling the climate crisis. Key project components include:

  • Ensuring environmental claims in ads are not misleading or socially irresponsible.
  • Targeting priority sectors with the most impact on legally binding net-zero goals.
  • Collaborating with stakeholders and businesses to drive positive change.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award

Winner: Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)
Project: Shaping Progressive Advertising Narratives
This initiative advances ASCI’s commitment to inclusivity in Indian advertising by:

  1. Providing evidence of the societal and financial benefits of inclusivity.
  2. Sharing best practices to inspire change and guide marketers.

ICAS Special Recognition Award

Introduced in 2022, this award honors SROs (Self-Regulatory Organizations) that have demonstrated outstanding performance, resilience, or commitment to advertising self-regulation. Unlike other categories, SROs could not submit their own initiatives; instead, they were nominated by ICAS members and evaluated by the ICAS Executive Committee.

Guy Parker, ICAS President announced the winner of the 2025 ICAS Special Recognition Award: Conselho Nacional de Autorregulamentação Publicitária (CONAR), Brazil
CONAR was recognized for its leadership in advancing responsible advertising in Latin America. Over a short period, CONAR significantly expanded its resources, transforming from a small SRO into a strong and impactful organization. Notable achievements include:

  • Developing gambling advertising guidelines.
  • Collaborating with the government and industry to promote responsible advertising.
  • Launching a social media ad monitoring tool focused on influencer-led betting content to mitigate consumer harm.

CONAR Brazil was also commended for its strong contributions to ICAS and its support of fellow SROs.

Additionally, the ICAS Latin American Chapter members received a special mention of the ICAS Executive Committee for their collective commitment to promoting high standards of responsible advertising and strengthening advertising self-regulation in Latin America.

Jury Chairman Jeffrey A. Greenbaum said: “Advertising self-regulation is playing an enormous and vital role around the world in helping to protect consumers and to guide brands about advertising best practices.  With the ICAS Awards, we are thrilled to celebrate the groundbreaking work that advertising self-regulatory organizations are doing.”

Elly I’Anson, Acting Head of the Unstereotype Alliance, UN Women added:

“It was an honour to assess the multitude of inclusion-focused initiatives happening across SROs in all corners of the world. The data-led, systematic approach that ASCI took to support advertisers in creating inclusive content was exemplary and will undoubtably continue to drive impact in Indian advertising for years to come. We are delighted to see ASCI as the first awardee as part of the Unstereotype Alliance’s partnership with ICAS.”

Raelene Martin, Head of Sustainability, International Chamber of Commerce, said:

“The inspiring work submitted by all the SROs showcases the incredible diligence and commitment to excellence within the SRO community. Each entry reflected a unique perspective and an innovative spirit for approaches that are fit-for-purpose in an ever evolving landscape, making the selection process both challenging and rewarding.”  

ICAS congratulates all winners and thanks all participants who contributed to the success of the ICAS Awards. All the presented initiatives contribute to the promotion of effective and meaningful self-regulation, and the encouragement of ethical and responsible marketing and advertising practices. ICAS encourages organizations worldwide to seek inspiration from the winners, as well as from the other SROs that had submitted excellent initiatives, and to support the development and use of efficient, effective and innovative self-regulatory standards and solutions. 

ICAS also warmly thanks Jeff Greenbaum and all the jury members for their dedication and support. 

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