An advert for the takeaway delivery service Just Eat that featured a McDonald’s burger has been banned for not taking suficient care to ensurethat it was not aimed at children under 16.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the paid-for Facebookadvert must not appear again in its current form after it upheld a complaintmade by Bite Back 2030, a youth activist movement challenging junk food.Bite Back 2030 challenged whether the advert was for a product that washigh in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) and was directed at children through theselection of media or context in which it appeared.
The advert for Just Eat, seen on 15 December 2023, featured text that stated:“Fancy a McMufn in the morning? McNuggets for lunch? Or a big night inwith a Big Mac? Get them delivered right here.” Below that was a changingimage of McNuggets that was replaced by the Just Eat and McDonald’s logos.
Just Eat had argued that the targeting of the ad was responsible: it said it hadaimed the promotion at individuals aged over 18 using Meta’s age-targetingtools. It argued that if the complainant had a Facebook account registeredwith an age under 18, they would not have been able to see the ad at thattime.
The Committee of Advertising Practice code requires that HFSS product adsare not directed at people under 16 through the selection of media or thecontext in which they appear.
The ASA said it acknowledged that age-based targeting was applied to the adto exclude those registered as under-18 on Facebook from seeing thepromotion. However, interest-based targeting factors had not been used toexclude groups of people more likely to be under 16 from the targetaudience, it said.
“We concluded that Just Eat had not taken sufcient care to ensure that thead, which promoted several HFSS products, was not directed at individualsaged under 16 years. The ad therefore breached the code,” the ASA said.Just Eat said: “By fltering targeting to users aged over 18, we believe we tookreasonable precautions to avoid protected age groups from seeing theadvertisement.
Just Eat had argued that the targeting of the ad was responsible: it said it hadaimed the promotion at individuals aged over 18 using Meta’s age-targetingtools. It argued that if the complainant had a Facebook account registeredwith an age under 18, they would not have been able to see the ad at thattime.
The Committee of Advertising Practice code requires that HFSS product adsare not directed at people under 16 through the selection of media or thecontext in which they appear.
The ASA said it acknowledged that age-based targeting was applied to the adto exclude those registered as under-18 on Facebook from seeing thepromotion. However, interest-based targeting factors had not been used toexclude groups of people more likely to be under 16 from the targetaudience, it said.
“We concluded that Just Eat had not taken sufcient care to ensure that thead, which promoted several HFSS products, was not directed at individualsaged under 16 years. The ad therefore breached the code,” the ASA said.Just Eat said: “By fltering targeting to users aged over 18, we believe we tookreasonable precautions to avoid protected age groups from seeing theadvertisement.