Background

Summary of Council decision:

Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.

Ad description

A website, www.candykittens.co.uk, which sold sweets featured text on the “FAQ” page that stated, “IS CANDY KITTENS HALAL CERTIFIED? Candy Kittens is halal certified”. Below that was the text “WHY DO CANDY KITTENS USE HALAL? …”.

Issue

Three complainants, who noted that the sweets sold on the website contained Cochineal (which is made from extracts of crushed insect) which was forbidden (haram) by Islamic law and understood that the advertiser was not a member of an official halal certification authority, challenged whether the following claims were misleading and could be substantiated:

1. “WHY DO CANDY KITTENS USE HALAL?”; and

2. “Candy Kittens is halal certified”.

Response

Candy Kittens Ltd stated that they were already made aware of the issue, and following our enquiries had made amendments to their website which they considered were sufficient.

Assessment

1&2. Upheld

The ASA welcomed the changes Candy Kittens had made to the ad, which no longer featured the disputed claims and were replaced with the text, “IS CANDY KITTENS HALAL CERTIFIED? No”.

Referring to the ad in question, we considered that consumers would interpret the claims “WHY DO CANDY KITTENS USE HALAL” and “Candy Kittens is halal certified” to mean that all the products sold by Candy Kittens were suitable for consumers who followed a halal-only diet, and that it was recognised as such by a reputable body. However, we understood that Candy Kittens sold products which contained Cochineal (which is made from extracts of crushed insect) and from the information the complainants had provided, this was haram.

Therefore, because Candy Kittens had not provided documentary evidence to support the claims “WHY DO CANDY KITTENS USE HALAL?” and “Candy Kittens is halal certified”, we concluded had not been substantiated and were misleading.

The claims breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules  3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.  (Misleading advertising) and  3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation.  (Substantiation).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Candy Kittens not to make claims that stated or suggested that their products were suitable for a halal-only diet and were halal certified, unless that was the case and could be supported with documentary evidence.

CAP Code (Edition 12)

3.1     3.7    


More on