Ad description

A TV ad for breakfast cereal:

The ad featured a man in historical dress exercising in a variety of ways and handling wheat. A voice-over stated, "Back in 1893, Henry Perky put his heart into keeping healthy and came upon a breakfast that would help look after it. With no added salt or sugar that same breakfast helps keep your heart healthy today." As the voice-over stated "today" the ad showed a packshot of Original and Bitesize Shredded Wheat; the voiceover continued, "Shredded Wheat". A following scene showed the same man tasting honey from a jar while a voice-over stated, "Love honey? You'll love Honey Nut Shredded Wheat, topped with irresistible honey and nuts." Alongside a packshot of Honey Nut Shredded Wheat, the voice-over stated "Try Honey Nut Shredded Wheat today".

Issue

The complainant, who understood that Honey Nut Shredded Wheat contained added sugar, challenged whether the ad breached the Code.

Response

Cereal Partners UK stated that the ad was actually two ads, a 'Shredded Wheat Original' ad that had been tagged with a second ad for 'Honey Nut Shredded Wheat'. They stated that all Nestle cereal ads finished with a 'Nestle Peel' end-frame, and that this appeared at the end of the first section alongside a pack-shot of Shredded Wheat Original. They asserted that the second section referred solely to Honey Nut Shredded Wheat and that it contained its own 'Peel' end-frame with pack-shot. They stated that the closing end-frame format was common amongst many advertisers, and considered that the average consumer would recognise that there were two distinct and separate sections for different products.

Cereal Partners UK stated their belief that the opening visual and voice-over for the second section clearly indicated a new, separate product, and that the average consumer would understand this. They noted the several references to 'honey', including in the brand name, and considered that consumers were likely to recognise that honey was a natural form of sugar and be aware of its use as a form of sweetener. Cereal Partners UK therefore considered that it would be clear to consumers that the "no added sugar" claim would only apply to the first product, Shredded Wheat Original and Bitesize, rather than to the second.

Clearcast stated that the complaint was based on the assumption that the claim "with no added salt or sugar" should apply to every product referred to in the ad, but did not consider that the claim should be interpreted in this way in this instance. They considered that it was clear from the way the ad was presented that it was made up of two separate and distinct sections. They stated that each section advertised a different product within the Shredded Wheat brand and the claims made in each section related only to the products featured in that portion of the ad. They noted that the two sections were clearly separated by a pack-shot of Shredded Wheat and the 'Nestle Peel'. In light of this, Clearcast considered that it would be clear to viewers that the "no added salt or sugar" claim was only made in relation to Shredded Wheat Original and Bitesize. Furthermore, they considered that viewers would infer from the line "Love Honey? You'll love Honey Nut Shredded Wheat topped with delicious honey and nuts" that the Honey Nut variety contained added sugar in the form of natural honey.

Assessment

Upheld.

The ASA noted that the ad featured two sections separated by a pack-shot and logo 'peel', and that Cereal Partners UK considered that it was therefore clear to consumers that the claim "no added ... sugar" would apply only to the original varient of the product. However, we noted that the theme of the ad, with the same character and setting, carried through this pack-shot and linked the two sections together, and considered that consumers were consequently likely to interpret the ad as one whole, rather than two separate sections. We considered that viewers would therefore understand the "no added ... sugar" claim to apply to all products with only the addition of natural honey, rather than supplementary sugar, in the Honey Nut variety. Because we understood that this was not the case and that Honey Nut Shredded Wheat did contain additional sugar, we concluded that the ad breached the Code.

The ad breached BCAP Code rules  13.4.1 13.4.1 Nutrition claims must comply with the criteria in the EU Register:
www.ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/claims/community_register/nutrition_claims_en.htm
 and  13.4.2 13.4.2 Advertisements that contain nutrition or health claims must be supported by documentary evidence to show they meet the conditions of use associated with the relevant claim, as specified in the EU Register. Advertisements must not give a misleading impression of the nutrition or health benefits of the product as a whole and factual nutrition statements should not imply a nutrition or health claim that cannot be supported. Claims must be presented clearly and without exaggeration  (Food, food supplements and associated health or nutrition claims).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Cereal Partners UK to ensure that future ads for multiple products made clear to which product the relevant nutritional claims applied.

BCAP Code

13.4.1     13.4.2    


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