A complaint was upheld by regulator the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) against Morley’s for breaking the rules of showing ‘less healthy’ foods at certain times
Morley’s ran a paid-for Instagram advert promoting two meal deals featuring burgers, wings, nuggets, fries and drinks. Because the advert identified multiple specific products that were classified as less healthy, it was found to have broken the rules.
The advertising rules, which came into force at the beginning of 2026, ban adverts for identifiable so-called ‘less healthy’ food products from appearing on TV or on-demand services between 5.30am and 9pm, or in paid online media at any time.
The restrictions are designed to reduce children’s exposure to ads for less healthy food products.
“Our job is to apply the new LHF rules, which mirror the law, accurately, fairly and consistently. Today’s rulings provide clarity on how the ‘brand exemption’ aspect of the rules applies in practice,” says Guy Parker, chief executive at the ASA.
“They also show that less healthy products can be hard to spot. Some specific products that people understandably assume are less healthy, are not in fact classified as less healthy under the Government’s Nutrient Profile Model.”
“That might sometimes be because food businesses have reformulated them to bring them below the less healthy threshold.
“It’s worth mentioning that Government has been clear that it wants the restrictions to incentivise food businesses to do exactly that: reformulate their products so they are no longer classified as less healthy.”
Complaints were also made by members of the public concerning ads from Domino’s, Papa John’s and Uber Eats, but these were rejected by the ASA, which found that the three brands had not breached the rules.