HJ Heinz Company Ltd South Building Hayes Park Hayes Middlesex UB4 8AL Number of complaints: 25

Date: 26 March 2008 Media: Television, Magazine Sector: Food and drink Agency: McCann Erickson

Ad
a. A TV ad for Heinz Farmers' Market soup played the theme music from The Archers as background music throughout the ad. The ad opened with a view of city rooftops and featured a man watering cabbages in his window box. The ad then showed a woman opening her kitchen cupboard to collect eggs from hens that were nesting inside. Next, businessmen were shown in an underground car park getting into their tractors and driving them away. The ad then featured a woman crossing the road with some ducks and then a man in an office milking a cow in front of a vending machine. Next, a bride was shown with a bouquet of vegetables. Text at the bottom of the screen stated "Made with quality ingredients from the UK and other countries". The ad then featured a woman in her kitchen eating a bowl of soup. As a piglet was shown entering the woman's kitchen through the cat flap, a voice-over said "Got a taste for the countryside? Heinz Farmers' Market soup. Taste the Countryside". The ad showed a can and fresh packet of Farmers' Market soups. The final image showed a shire horse in a parking bay with one of his feet in a wheel clamp.

b. A press ad for Heinz Farmers' Market soup in ASDA Magazine had the headline "There's no taste like HEINZ Soup". It showed an image of a can of the soup in front of fresh vegetables. Text underneath the image stated "TASTE THE COUNTRYSIDE. Heinz Farmers' Market soups are great tasting, hearty soups, made using selected wholesome ingredients that you'd find at a Farmers' Market. A taste of the countryside everyday!".

c. A press ad in The Grocer magazine stated "Heinz Stirs Up The Soup Category ... Heinz Farmers' Market - Taste The Countryside. These great tasting, hearty soups are made using selected wholesome ingredients that you would find at a Farmers' Market. Abundant vegetables, simple down to earth recipes and colourful packaging bring you a taste of the countryside every day!".

d. A press ad in The Observer Food Monthly stated "PICK YOUR OWN SOUPS. Soup is everyone's favourite comfort food and now Heinz has created a range brimming with winter warm-up goodness. Heinz Farmers' Market soups are great tasting, hearty soups containing selected ingredients from the UK and other countries inspired by Farmers' Markets. Nourishing and satisfying, they come in larger-than-usual cans perfect for sharing on cosy winter evenings. All you need to do is pick your own favourite from the five tempting varieties ...".

Issue
1. Sustain, Hampshire Farmers' Markets Ltd, The Real Jam and Chutney Co., Pollen Organics Ltd and 19 members of the public challenged whether the TV ad (a) was misleading, because they believed it implied that the ingredients used in the soups came from farmers' markets. They believed this exploited the reputation of farmers' markets, people's understanding of the term and the associations with locally grown, naturally reared produce sold by the grower.

2. Sustain and one member of the public challenged whether the press ads (b) and (c) were misleading, for the same reasons as issue one.

3. One complainant challenged whether press ad (d) was misleading, for the same reasons as issue one.

The CAP Code:	3.1;7.1;21.2;3.2;6.1
BCAP TV Advertising Code:	5.1;5.2.2

Response
H J Heinz Company Ltd (Heinz) said they believed consumers understood that their products were sold by a multinational corporation on a very large scale across the country, through supermarkets and other retail outlets. They said consumers rightly expected that the supply of Heinz products would be continuous throughout the year and would have a uniform high quality. Heinz said, although the nature of farmers' markets varied from one to another, farmers' markets tended to consist of producers selling small quantities of their own, usually fresh, produce from stalls in towns or villages direct to the consumer. Heinz argued that interpreting the ads to mean that the ingredients for their Farmers' Market soups were actually sourced from farmers' markets would be wholly inconsistent with consumers' knowledge that their soup was a product sold on a very large scale by a multinational corporation, and sold in cans and cartons throughout the year through retailers nationwide. They argued that the practical impossibility of sourcing the ingredients for the soups from farmers' markets would be obvious to consumers.

Heinz explained that statements made in the ads clarified the source of the ingredients and the relevance of the product name. They pointed to the statements "made with quality ingredients from the UK and other countries" in the TV ad (a), "using wholesome ingredients that you would find at a farmers' market" and "inspired by farmers' markets" in press ads (b) and (c), and "great tasting, hearty soups containing selected ingredients from the UK and other countries inspired by farmers' markets" in press ad (d). Heinz said the latter statement in press ad (d) was the form of words that they would be using in all future advertising and labelling for the product.  

Heinz said the "Taste the Countryside" strapline for the ads, along with the references to "great tasting, hearty soups" highlighted the fact that their Farmers' Market soups were a range of wholesome soups, made using familiar country ingredients. They said the imagery used in the ads and on the pack focused on the "Taste the Countryside" theme by showing the types of vegetables to be found in the soups in the foreground. They argued that, other than the product name, no express or implied visual or aural reference was made to farmers' markets. They said the TV ad was intentionally humorous and light hearted. They argued that consumers would understand 'Heinz Farmers' Market', in the context of the ads as a whole, to refer to a range of soups of a particular style rather than to where the ingredients were sourced from.

Heinz argued that consumers were aware that brand names for food products often denoted the style of the food and should not necessarily be taken literally. They provided examples of other branded food products that did not source ingredients from, or did not contain ingredients, suggested by the brand name. Heinz said 'Farmers' Market' was a brand name often used by other companies for grocery products that did not source their ingredients from, or have any other association with, farmers' markets. Heinz explained that the Food Standards Agency, in its guidance document 'Food Labelling - country of origin', stated that consumers were unlikely to expect products such as Chelsea buns, York Ham, Madras curry or Frankfurters to come from those areas in the absence of other material on the label suggesting that they do. Heinz submitted a copy of consumer research that they had carried out on the Heinz Farmers' Market concept. They said the research showed that none of the respondents questioned thought the product or its ingredients came from farmers' markets.

Heinz said they did not accept that farmers' markets had a uniform reputation, or that there was consistent consumer understanding of farmers' markets. They argued that farmers' market was a generic term that was not owned by any one organisation or group, and was not subject to any trade mark or designation of origin protection. They said the quality of produce at farmers' markets was not generally controlled and could vary greatly, as did the reputation of individual farmers' markets. They said the produce sold at farmers' markets was not necessarily locally grown, naturally reared or organic.

Clearcast said they had considered the issue of the product name during their discussion of the ad. They said, however, that the ad adopted an urban city platform as opposed to a rural farm one. They also said they had seen convincing consumer research from Heinz, which showed that consumers would not think that a canned product would emanate from a farmers' market, but that the product was inspired by farmers' markets and was a celebration of the good ingredients available from them.

Assessment
1. Not upheld
The ASA noted Heinz's argument that farmers' markets tended to consist of producers selling small quantities of locally grown, seasonal produce, in contrast to the large scale on which their Farmers' Market soups were prepared and sold throughout the year. We acknowledged that, aside from the name of the product, the ad featured an urban setting and made no other explicit reference to farmers' markets or to locally grown and sourced produce. We considered that the on-screen text in ad (a) that stated "Made with quality ingredients from the UK and other countries", lent further clarity to the fact that the soups' ingredients had not necessarily been locally sourced. We also considered that the voice-over statements "Got a taste for the countryside?" and "Taste the countryside" suggested that the Farmers' Market range referred to a particular style of hearty soup, based on country recipes and ingredients found in the countryside. We considered that the consumer research submitted by Heinz demonstrated that a large number of the respondents expected that the Farmers' Market soups would be healthy, tasty products, and a smaller proportion expected that they would be made from wholesome, country ingredients and have a homemade taste. We noted that, although one respondent thought that the soups were inspired by farmers' markets, none of the respondents had expressed confusion about the source of the product's ingredients. We considered that most viewers would understand that it was unlikely that a canned product, distributed on a national scale by Heinz, would be made from ingredients sourced locally from farmers' markets. We therefore concluded that on this point the ad was unlikely to mislead.

On this point we investigated the TV ad (a) under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.2 (Implications) but did not find it in breach.

2. Not Upheld
We noted Heinz' argument that the strapline "Taste the Countryside" and the phrase "great tasting, hearty soups" in press ads (b) and (c) suggested that the Farmers' Market range referred to a particular style of soup, based on countryside ingredients and recipes. We understood that some people might interpret the claims "made using selected wholesome ingredients that you'd find at a farmers' market" in ads (b) and (c) to mean that the ingredients used in the soups had actually been sourced at farmers' markets. We considered, however, that the claim could reasonably refer to the hearty style of the soups in the Farmers' Market range. Because of that, and because Heinz' consumer research showed that consumers were not confused by the provenance of the ingredients used in the soups, we concluded that press ads (b) and (c) were unlikely to mislead.

On this point we investigated press ads (b) and (c) under CAP Code clauses 3.1 and 3.2 (Substantiation), 6.1 (Honesty), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 21.1 (Imitation) but did not find them in breach.

3. Not upheld
We noted the arguments put forward by Heinz. We acknowledged that the text in press ad (d), which stated "Heinz Farmers' Market soups are great tasting, hearty soups containing selected ingredients from the UK and other countries", made it clear that the soups' ingredients would not necessarily be sourced locally. We understood that some people might interpret the claim "containing selected ingredients ... inspired by farmers' markets" in ad (d) to mean that the ingredients used in the soups had actually been sourced at farmers' markets. We considered, however, that that claim could also reasonably refer to the hearty style of the soups in the Farmers' Market range. Because the source of the ingredients used in the soups was suitably qualified in the ad (d), and because Heinz's consumer research showed that consumers' were not confused by the provenance of the ingredients used in the soups, we concluded that press ad (d) was unlikely to mislead.

On this point we investigated press ad (d) under CAP Code clauses 3.1 and 3.2 (Substantiation), 6.1 (Honesty), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 21.1 (Imitation) but did not find it in breach.

Action
No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)