Industry: Ad Ban Rules Widened

Cap’s new rules cover all food and drink products except fresh fruit and vegetables and extend advertising restrictions to media such as magazines, paid-for ad space on the internet, newspapers and billboards and cinema.

The restrictions, due to come into force from 1st July, follow Ofcom’s obesity reduction strategy, which applies only to TV ads. Ofcom banned the advertising of junk food to children, introducing restrictions based on a nutrient profiling model developed by the Food Standards Agency to identify products high in fat, salt and sugar.

However, Cap, the advertising industry’s self-regulatory body, disagreed with the FSA’s method of determining what is a junk food, saying it was too inaccurate. Cap has instead decided to apply a range of restrictions to all food and soft drink products except fruit and vegetables.

The new Cap advertising restrictions state that products should not ‘condone or encourage poor nutritional habits or an unhealthy lifestyle in children’. They go on to say they should not “encourage excessive consumption of food or drink products; use promotional offers in an irresponsible way; use ‘high pressure’ or ‘hard sell’ techniques; or give a ‘misleading impression’ of the nutritional health benefits of the product’.

In addition, there is a ban on the use of licensed characters and celebrities popular with children in campaigns aimed directly at pre-school or primary school children. But manufacturer’s own characters, such as Frosties’ Tony the Tiger, are still allowed.

“These comprehensive new rules are designed to help protect children’s health while still allowing advertisers an appropriate degree of freedom to promote their products,” said Andrew Brown, chairman of Cap.

While the new non-broadcast rules apply to nearly all foods - not just those high in fat, salt and sugar - campaigning groups are unlikely to be happy that the FSA’s nutrient profiling system has not been extended for use across all media.

Following Ofcom’s decision on TV advertising restrictions in February the health minister, Caroline Flint, made a thinly veiled threat of possible legislative action if Ofcom’s junk food TV ad rules were not readily applied to non-broadcast media using “similar rules.” She said a review of “all media” would be conducted next year to gauge the impact of the new restrictions and see if there was a “change in the nature and balance of food promotion.”

She said, “On that basis, the government will decide whether or not future action is required.”

A Department of Health spokesperson said, “We welcome Cap’s decision to bring in new restrictions on advertising food and drink to children and its exemption on the content rules for advertising fruit and vegetables to children.

“We now look to the food and drink industry to continue to respond to consumer concerns about the way food and drink is advertised to children and embrace both the letter and the spirit of these new rules.”

But a health campaigning group criticised Cap for not adopting the FSA nutrient profiling model used by Ofcom for TV ads. “It is extremely disappointing that Cap has refused to adopt the FSA nutrient profiling model, putting less effective non-broadcast rules at odds with Ofcom’s broadcast rules,” said Jane Landon, the deputy chief executive of the National Heart Forum, an alliance of charities, non-governmental organisations and medical professionals. “The government objective behind new rules on advertising is to change the nature and balance of food promotion to children. Using the FSA model provides an incentive to HFSS [foods high in fat, sugar and salt] advertisers to reformulate existing products or develop and advertise new products with healthy profiles,” she added.

“Different rules for different media will create confusion and difficulties for advertisers, regulators and the public alike.”