Personal attributes rewrite guide: fix rejected Meta ad copy
By Spear Systems · 2 min read ·
The rule: ads must not assert or imply personal attributes of the viewer — race, age, health, finances, religion, sexuality, criminal record, and more. The rewrite move is always the same: shift from second-person attribution to first/third-person or benefit framing. Same message, no claim about the viewer.
Before / after pairs
| Rejected pattern | Rewrite |
|---|---|
| “Struggling with debt?” | “Thousands are restructuring their debt this year.” |
| “Meet other singles” | “Singles events near you.” |
| “Suffering from chronic back pain?” | “A back-pain program our users rate highly.” |
| “Are you broke?” | “Financial tools for modern budgets.” |
| “Meet other Buddhists” | “Looking for Buddhists near you?” (Meta’s own acceptable example) |
The last pair is the whole policy in miniature: “other” implies the advertiser knows the viewer is Buddhist; “near you” only uses location-safe phrasing with “you”, which Meta explicitly allows when no prohibited attribute is mentioned.
Three rewrite rules
- Drop the attribution, keep the topic. You can promote services for an attribute — you just cannot call it out. Describe the service, not the viewer.
- Testimonials over address. Client stories let you describe who the product fits without asserting traits of the reader.
- Watch “you” density. Heavy “you”/“your” wording risks automated flags even on clean ads. If flagged wrongly, appeal rather than rewriting clean copy into mush — see appeal or fix.
After the rewrite
Republish and confirm the landing page matches the new promise — mismatched pages get rejected independently of copy. See landing-page mismatch rejections. For the full picture, start at the hub guide.
Sources
- Meta Business Help Center, “About Meta’s Privacy Violations and Personal Attributes advertising policy” (accessed 2026-09-24)
- Social Media Examiner, “Facebook Ads Rejected? Here’s What to Do” — testimonial framing, appeal path (accessed 2026-09-24)