ASA bans Deliveroo, KFC ads
The bans came following complaints sent to the ASA.
Deliveroo’s television advertisement aired from September to October and KFC’s public poster and press ads released last September were banned following complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Based on the ad watchdog’s recent ruling, the delivery platform have breached the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising rules 3.1 and 3.2 (Misleading advertising) and 3.10 (Qualifications).
The less than 30-second ad showed a woman distributing various ordered meals from a big Deliveroo bag to people inside a house. At the end of the video, a voice over said: “All your family favourites, now on Deliveroo.”
“We considered that while viewers might appreciate that it was impractical for an order as large and diverse as the one shown in the ad to be delivered in a single delivery, the ad nevertheless implied that Deliveroo customers could order food from different restaurants to be delivered together. The ad made no reference to the cost of delivery and in the absence of any claim that [the] delivery was free, we considered viewers would assume that delivery charges were likely to apply,” the ASA said in their ruling.
Whilst the ASA noted Deliveroo’s intention to add a disclaimer: “Separate orders must be made for each restaurant,” it said that the text was “unlikely to be sufficient to alter the overall impression that their customers could order food from different restaurants to be delivered together.”
Meanwhile, KFC’s ads violated the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct and Promotional Marketing rules 1.3 (Responsible advertising) and 4.1 (Harm and Offence).
The chicken giant, in their defence, did not find any ambiguity that could misinterpret or misread the featured phrase: “what the cluck.” “The use of the word ‘cluck’ was a tool to visually represent the sound effects of a chicken,” the chain told the ASA.
In a ruling, the ASA concluded that the phrase featured in the ad alluded to an expletive which was “likely to cause serious and widespread offense” and that “it was irresponsible for them to appear where children could see them.”
