by Online advertisements for nutrition brands Huel and Zoe featuring Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett have been banned because his involvement with the companies was not disclosed.
The sponsored posts on on facebook.which appeared in users’ news feeds in February and March, included quotes from the star entrepreneur praising the company’s products.
The Zoe ad featured a photo of Bartlett next to the words: “If you haven’t tried Zoe, give it a try. It could change your life.”
One of the Huel adverts featured a quote from him calling the brand’s Daily Greens powder their “best product”. A second post featured a video clip of the star making similar comments.
However Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it should have been made clear that Bartlett had a personal interest as he is an investor in Zoe and a director at Huel.
The regulator pointed out that his appearances on the BBC programme The Cave of Dragons He was regularly shown expressing “opinions about companies” in which he had, in most cases, not invested.
The ASA said “many consumers” were unlikely to realise from the ads that he had a commercial relationship with the brands, and suggested social media users may have thought he was making a recommendation from an unbiased perspective.
Therefore, the Court ruled that both the advertisements for Huel and the one for Zoe were misleading or likely to mislead consumers.
The Zoe commercial that was criticised by regulators. Image: PA
Commenting on the Huel posts, the ASA said: “We considered that Bartlett’s position as director was significant to consumers’ understanding of the ads and was therefore relevant to their decision-making about the product being advertised.”
“Because the advertisements lacked material information about Steven Bartlett’s position as a director at Huel, we concluded that they were likely to be misleading.”
Regarding the Zoe advert, the regulator said: “Because the advert lacked material information about Steven Bartlett being an investor in Zoe, we concluded that it was misleading.”
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A Zoe spokesperson told Sky News that he believed the ad was clearly labelled and compliant with regulations.
They added: “Neither the [advertising] Neither the Code nor the ASA’s guidance suggests that it is necessary to go into detail about the precise nature of an ambassador’s relationship with a brand…
“We respect the ASA’s work to ensure transparency in online advertising and have given written assurances that it will not reoccur in this form. We would welcome further guidance to provide clarity on the implications of this decision.”
In its response to the ASA, Huel defended its ads, arguing that consumers “generally understood” that when celebrities endorsed products, they did so “in the context of a commercial relationship”.
The ASA ordered that none of the ads be re-run and asked brands to ensure that future posts “do not misleadingly omit material information about commercial relationships.”
