The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a radio advertisement for Mondelez International’s Cadbury Delights after a complaint about its nutrition claims.
The advert, which aired in January, was challenged for its use of the phrase “only 91 calories”.
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“Some people might describe Cadbury Delights as just another Cadbury bar. A bit samey. Very familiar. Honestly, we’d be chuffed if they did. Because Delights have that same chocolatey Cadbury taste you’ve had a million times before. Same soft nougat, same gooey caramel. But they’re only 91 calories. So, samey is exactly what we’re going for. Cadbury Delights. Same Cadbury, only 91 calories,” a voiceover said.
A registered nutritionist questioned whether the claim “only 91 calories” complied with ASA guidelines.
The watchdog also investigated whether the advert implied an “energy reduced” comparative nutrition claim, which would breach the CAP Code.
Mondelez defended the advert, stating it had been approved by Radiocentre, the UK radio industry body.
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By GlobalDataThe company said the ad aimed to provide “factual information” about the bar’s calorie content, supported by consumer research showing that “factual calorie information” was important to its customers.
The snacks giant added that the spot was meant to highlight the product’s taste, not its health benefits and it would revise future ads to avoid misleading impressions.
Radiocentre informed the ASA it had cleared the claim that the product “contains 91 calories” and did not consider the wording to have changed to “only 91 calories”.
The ASA upheld the ban, ruling only nutrition claims authorised by the Great Britain Nutrition and Health Claims Register (GB NHC Register) are permitted in food and drink ads in the country.
The watchdog said: “We therefore considered that listeners would understand the claim only 91 calories as a low calorie claim, which was equivalent to the ‘low energy’ nutrition claim authorised on the GB NHC Register.”
The ASA noted the “low energy” claim is only allowed for products with no more than 40 kcal per 100 g for solids. Cadbury Delights, however, contained 413 or 415 kcal per 100 g, depending on the flavour.
The advert was found to breach BCAP Code rules 13.4, 13.4.1, and 13.4.2, which regulate food, food supplements and associated health and nutrition claims.
The ASA ordered that the ad “must not” appear again in its current form.
In a statement to Just Food, a Mondelez spokesperson said: “We recognise the decision by the ASA and will abide by its ruling.
“The intention of our advert was to provide factual information on the calorie content per bar, whilst underlining taste credentials, with our research highlighting that this approach resonated with consumers. We did not intend to make a nutrition claim in any of our creative.”
The spokesperson confirmed the campaign has “now ended” and said Mondelez will work with its partners to ensure future advertisements comply with the ASA’s ruling and broader advertising guidelines.
