The pizza company has been censured by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after adverts for its ‘Cheeky Little Pizza range were deemed to have breached rules introduced in January that prohibit advertising identifiable high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) products online and restrict their appearance on television and on demand services before the 9pm watershed.
The ASA upheld three complaints investigated against the pizza chain, covering a TV advert, a video-on-demand campaign and a paid-for YouTube advertisement.
Domino’s said that the range in questions should have fallen outside the HFSS category after receiving nutrient profile calculations from a third party. However, it later discovered that incorrect data had been used in the assessment and that the featured sausage and bacon pizzas should in fact have been classified as an HFSS product.
According to the ASA, the YouTube advert showed a specific less healthy pizza and was therefore broke rules banning paid online advertising for identifiable HFSS products. The ASA also found that the TV and video-on-demand adverts, which aired before 9pm, breached broadcasting rules because they featured the same product.
The industry is still getting to grips with the new advertising rules, with fast food brands in particular the most impacted. Earlier this month an Instagram advert by south London chicken shop chain Morley’s promoting two meal deals featuring burgers, wings, nuggets, fries and drinks was also deemed by the ASA to have broken the rules.
In a separate case McDonald’s successfully defended a complaint against one of its McDelivery television advertisements that showed a series of people naming menu items they wanted to order including McNuggets, McCrispy and a McChicken Sandwich – though no food was shown
Two complainants challenged whether the advert promoted identifiable less healthy products and therefore should not have been shown before 9pm. However, McDonald’s argued that the specific menu items referenced in the advert were not classified as HFSS products and that the campaign’s primary purpose was to promote the McDelivery service rather than individual food items.
The ASA aconcluded that the McCrispy, McChicken Sandwich and Chicken McNuggets were not HFSS products under the regulatory definition.