Nutrition Adverts Featuring Steven Bartlett Banned For "Misleading" Customers (image @StevenBartlett)
UK’s ASA banned nutrition brands Huel and Zoe. The companies were banned due to their failure to disclose their commercial relationship with the celebrity entrepreneur and influencer, Steven Bartlett. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) shared on Facebook in February, “omitted” information about their links to the Dragon’s Den star, who is an investor at both brands.
ASA said the ads could be mistaken for an independent review and therefore mislead consumers. Both the companies argued that it would be clear to customers they had a “commercial relationship” with him. They further added that the consumer did not need to know the exact details of their affiliations Bartlett.
ASA claimed to receive two complaints that it wasn’t clear from the advert that he had a commercial interest in the company.
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It said that the advert could seem like an independent review and knowing he was an investor was key for customers to be able to make an informed decision about the product.
In the advertisement for Zoe, a health testing and diet advice company, Bartlett is pictured with a patch on his arm alongside a quote saying: “If you haven’t tried Zoe yet, give it a shot. It might just change your life”.
The author of Diary of a CEO podcast was also seen in Huel – a brand known for selling ‘ready-todrink bottled meals’- advert, in which he was pictured drinking one of their products with a quote saying: “This is Huel’s best product”. In another advertisement, he was heard as saying, “This is the best product that Huel have released”.
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In its ruling, ASA said that many consumers would interpret the ads as featuring a testimonial from Steven Bartlett about one of Huel’s products. The ads “omitted material information about Steven Bartlett’s position as a director at Huel, we concluded they were likely to mislead”.
ASA said the ads could not appear again in their current form and that both companies must make sure future adverts don’t “misleadingly omit” information regarding commercial relationships.
It also banned an ad for Huel in 2022 on a Diary Of A CEO podcast where the presenter said he’d “become hooked on” a caramel flavour iced coffee drink.
