We’ve written quite a lot on this blog about manufacturers making misleading claims about the health benefits of their products, from food stuffs to herbal medications. We were therefore very pleased to hear today that one of the biggest food companies, Kelloggs, has been rather publicly named and shamed for just this by the advertising watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority.
Kelloggs had been touting their new, chewy oat biscuits all over town, claiming in press and poster adverts that they offered “wholesome cookie goodness.” Mmm – goodness and cookies, who could resist? However consumer watchdog Which? apparently could, as they reported the firm for misleading consumers into believing the nibbley treats were beneficial to health. Kelloggs promised in smaller print that the snacks were made with oats, wheat, six B vitamins and iron, but warned they should be part of a “healthy balanced diet and lifestyle”. Which? pointed out that actually, the cookies were made of fat, sugar and saturated fat: All delicious, but hardly ‘wholesome’.
Though Kelloggs said they had added the bit about balanced diets into the small print to clarify the ‘goodness’ claim, the ASA ruled that despite this, adverts for the Soft Oaties (Kelloggs may be evil but whoever coined that name is a genius) implied that the cookies were wholly healthy, by referring only to those ingredient that were good for you without mentioning all the fat.
Which? is now enjoying a triumphant victory, as the ads have been withdrawn and the Kelloggs shame gloated over in the national press. A food campaigner for the watchdog, Claire Corbett, said, “It is unacceptable for businesses to describe food packed with sugar and fat as healthy or wholesome...Organisations have a responsibility to tell the whole truth and if they don't, then they'll be brought to task."
Maybe this will make manufacturers and ad agencies think twice before they launch their next lot of cancer-curing chocolate/fat-melting custard doughnuts/world-peace –bringing pizza. But then again, probably not!