Advertisements for major takeaway brands including Domino’s, Papa John’s, KFC, and Burger King have been given the green light by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), despite new regulations targeting less healthy food products.
The ASA acknowledged a significant loophole, stating that “specific products that people understandably assume are less healthy are not in fact classified as less healthy under the Government’s Nutrient Profile Model,” allowing the ads to continue airing.
These new rules, which came into effect at the beginning of this year, prohibit the promotion of identifiable less healthy food products on television and on-demand services between 5.30 am and 9 pm, as well as across all paid online media.
Their primary aim is to reduce children’s exposure to such advertising, forming a key part of the Government’s wider public health strategy.
The ban encompasses 13 categories of products deemed to contribute most significantly to childhood obesity. This includes obvious culprits like soft drinks, chocolates, sweets, pizzas, and ice creams, but also extends to less expected items such as breakfast cereals, porridges, sweetened bread products, main meals, and sandwiches.
Products that fall into these categories are then also assessed as to whether they are less healthy based on a scoring tool that considers their nutrient levels and whether they are high in saturated fat, salt or sugar.
Only products that meet both of the two criteria are included in the restrictions.
The ASA cleared two ads for a Domino’s “Vegi Supreme” pizza, finding that it did not fall within the classification of a less healthy product and was visually different from the less healthy pizzas sold by the brand.
It also found a TV, video on demand and three social media ads for KFC did not break the rules because the featured burgers, chicken pieces and soft drinks were either not classified as “less healthy” or were visually different from specific less healthy menu items.
Similarly, a Facebook ad for Papa John’s showing a promotional offer and an image of a vegetable pizza did not break the new rules because the product was not classified as “less healthy” and was visually different from the less healthy pizzas sold by the firm.
A video on demand ad for Uber Eats showing a Burger King Whopper alongside Uber Eats and Burger King branding was cleared to continue screening because the burger shown was not classified as “less healthy” and was visually different from other less healthy Burger King products, the ASA said.
However, a paid-for Instagram ad for fast food restaurant Morley’s Woking promoting two meal deals featuring burgers, wings, nuggets, fries and drinks has been banned because it “clearly identified multiple specific products that were classified as less healthy”.
A paid-for Instagram ad for M&M’s featuring two cartoon-style M&M’s, one round and green and the other oval and yellow, has also been banned because the oval yellow character depicted a specific “less healthy” product – in this case peanut M&M’s – rather than just the brand.
ASA chief executive Guy Parker said: “Our job is to apply the new LHF (less healthy food) rules, which mirror the law, accurately, fairly and consistently.
“Today’s rulings provide clarity on how the ‘brand exemption’ aspect of the rules applies in practice.
“They also show that less healthy products can be hard to spot. Some specific products that people understandably assume are less healthy are not in fact classified as less healthy under the Government’s Nutrient Profile Model.
“That might sometimes be because food businesses have reformulated them to bring them below the less healthy threshold.
“It’s worth mentioning that Government has been clear that it wants the restrictions to incentivise food businesses to do exactly that: reformulate their products so they are no longer classified as less healthy.”
