ASA Adjudication on Joseph Brennan Bakeries Ltd

Ad

a. A poster, for Brennans Bread, stated "Feel the difference" and showed a loaf of bread being squeezed by a hand. The advertisers' slogan at the bottom of the poster stated "Today's bread today".

b. A radio ad, also for Brennans Bread, stated "… If you won't put up with yesterday's fashions, why put up with yesterday's bread? Brennans Bread is just-out-of-the-oven fresh, it's so squeezably soft, it's got everybody talking… Brennans. Today's bread today."

c. Another radio ad, for Brennans Bread, stated "… Every time you sit down with a delicious slice of Brennans Bread … just remember how lucky you are. You know how unbelievably fresh it tastes, and how soft it is. Some people still haven't had that pleasure ... Brennans Bread. Today's bread today."

Issue

The Northern Ireland Bakery Council objected that:

1. ad (a) was misleading because it implied that every loaf purchased would have been baked and delivered to stores on that same day, when in reality that was impossible to guarantee;

2. ad (a) misleadingly implied that Brennans Bread was fresher than other manufacturers' loaves;

3. ad (b) was misleading for the reasons outlined in point (1);

4. ad (b) was misleading for the reasons outlined in point (2);

5. ad (c) was misleading for the reasons outlined in point (1) and

6. ad (c) was misleading for the reasons outlined in point (2).

CAP Code (Edition 11)

BCAP Radio Code

Response

Joseph Brennan Bakeries (Brennans) said the slogan "Today's Bread Today" was first used over 25 years ago and was inspired by the fact that Brennans was the first bakery in Ireland to offer a daily delivery of fresh bread to all retailers. They claimed that the slogan meant that bread baked on a particular day was available to buy that same day. Brennans asserted that as manufacturers they were entitled to make that claim, particularly as the aspect of freshness was at the core of their philosophy and was underpinned by their production and distribution capabilities. Brennans said "Today's Bread Today" was one of Ireland's best-known advertising slogans and an important competitive property of theirs. They gave their assurance that it was grounded in fact.

They claimed that the accepted industry norm was that bread had a shelf-life of two days and a "best before" of five days, and that, because of that, a small amount of stock from the previous day's trading might be left over in a retail outlet. They maintained that with daily deliveries and proper stock management by the retailer there should be no reason for bread to sit on the shelf for longer than 24 hours, but acknowledged that given the variability of demand from one day to the next, that could sometimes happen. They said they did not have a policy of asking retailers to remove bread from the shelves after 24 hours. They claimed, nonetheless, that "Today's Bread Today" would also be available in that shop from Brennans, baked and delivered on the same day.

Brennans said they believed the ads did not imply that their bread was fresher than that produced by other bakeries, but, rather, articulated Brennans' core beliefs and commitment. They were not able to comment on whether their distribution methods differed from that of other bakeries.

Cool FM, one of the radio stations that cleared and aired the ads, endorsed Brennans' comments. They said they were aware of a similar complaint made in 1998 to the Irish Advertising Standards Authority where the Complaints Committee concluded that the slogan was not in breach of the Code. They also said their own taste tests had concluded that Brennans' product tasted much nicer and definitely represented "Today's Bread Today".

Citybeat, another radio station that aired the ads, also endorsed Brennans' comments. They acknowledged that the ad had not been cleared by them but said they had understood that Genesis, Brennans' advertising agency, would be responsible for copy clearance via the RACC. They said, as a broadcaster, they took responsibility for the oversight but had requested that Genesis ensure that future ads were cleared.

Assessment

1. & 2. Not upheld

The ASA noted Brennans' argument that because of their daily delivery schedule, their bread was available for customers to buy on the same day it was baked. We also noted the complainant's assertion that the poster's claim "Today's bread today" implied that every loaf purchased would have been baked and delivered to stores on that same day. We consulted a major bread manufacturer who confirmed that it was not unusual for large bakeries to deliver to most retailers seven days a week. We understood that the industry standard was for bread to carry a "best before" date of up to five days after baking and that, in this respect, Brennans would not differ from other pre-packaged bread in a retail outlet, where some loaves would have been delivered on that same day and others may have been on the shelf for longer. We acknowledged that Brennans delivered bread to retailers on the same day it was baked and that they would not be able to control what happened to the bread once it reached the retailer. We considered that consumers would interpret "Todays bread today", which appeared on the packaging shown in the poster as well as at the bottom of the ad, as Brennans slogan, which reflected the fact that Brennans baked and delivered bread on the same day; they would not see it as a guarantee that every loaf on the shelf was freshly baked. We also considered that consumers were unlikely to interpret the slogan accompanied by the phrase "Feel the difference" as a direct comparison with other retailers' bread. We concluded that the poster was unlikely to mislead.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 19.1 (Fair comparison) but did not find it in breach.

3. & 4. Upheld

We noted Brennans' argument that because of their daily delivery schedule, their bread was available for customers to buy on the same day it was baked and the claim "Today's bread today" was therefore justified. We also noted, however, that Brennans could not guarantee that every loaf purchased would have been delivered that same day. In the context of the ad, we considered that the claim "yesterday's bread" would be seen as a reference to other brands and in conjunction with the description of Brennans' product as "just-out-of-the oven fresh" created a false disparity in terms of freshness between Brennans and other brands of bread. We concluded that the ad misleadingly implied that Brennans Bread would always have been baked on the day of purchase and was likely to be fresher than their competitors bread.

The ads breached CAP (Broadcast) Radio Advertising Standards Code Section 2 rule 3 (Misleadingness) and Section 2 rule 6 (Fair comparison).

5. & 6. Not upheld

We noted the ad made reference to how "unbelievably fresh it [Brennans] tastes". We considered that, in the context of the ad, consumers would interpret the claim "Todays bread today" as the advertisers slogan and not as a guarantee that loaves would have been baked on the day of purchase. We also considered that a reference to "how unbelievably fresh it tastes" was likely to be seen as Brennans' opinion of their own bread and not a comparison with other manufacturers' bread. We concluded that the ad was unlikely to mislead.

On these points, we investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) Radio Advertising Standards Code Section 2 rule 6 (Fair comparisons), but did not find it in breach.

Action

We told Brennans not to repeat ad (b) in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)