Ad featuring kids throwing away fruit banned by watchdog
An ad for Coca Cola Amatil’s brand SPC has been banned by the advertising watchdog because it features children throwing away fruit in preference for the product.
The Advertising Standards Board overturned a previous 2006 ruling in favour of the ad following a new complaint. Normally, it does not rule on the same ad again within a five year period. But it said that CEO Fiona Jolly had stated that “it is likely that community standards have developed on this issue over the past four years and nine months to justify the Board’s further examination of its consistency with the advertiser codes”.
The ad promotes SPC Fruit In Jelly as “fruit that won’t get thrown away”.
One complaint said:
“I work at a primary school where we have a 10 o’clock fruit break students are gradually seeing eating raw fruit as a natural snacking behaviour. This advert totally undermines the message we are trying to give them.
“The ad is showing that standard fresh fruit is not a good choice for kids to have or eat in their lunchbox and instead they would be much better off having a pre packaged jelly style fruit snack. I object to this ad and find it offensive.”
In a response to the ASB, Coca Cola Amatil said: “The advertisement referred to in this complaint is based around an insight that mothers raise time and time again in research groups. That is, the fruit they send to school ends up discarded, uneaten and therefore wasted: just as it is portrayed in the advertisement. We are not suggesting that real fruit should be wasted, just that children do it.”
It added: “Effective advertising is all about having insights into the consumer needs and demonstrating that you understand their problems. While the complainant may not agree, the insight here is that families are looking for lunch box treats that will be eaten, not wasted.”
But the ASB ruled: “The Board noted that the advertised product in this advertisement is fruit in jelly with a fruit content of only 28%, with sugar added as a component of the jelly. The Board considered that this product would be unlikely to be seen as a substitute for a piece of fruit.
“The Board considered that even though it may be true that some children would prefer to throw fruit away rather than eat it, this fact should not be advertised in a manner that suggests that parents/carers replace fresh fruit with the advertised product. The majority of the Board considered that the advertisement is encouraging consumers to choose the advertised product over fresh fruit or over a product which would be consistent with dietary guidelines and is therefore contrary to prevailing community standards.”
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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This seems quite an ominous sign for a number of industries, particularly fast food, with the ASB suggesting such a turn around of community attitudes in less than 5 years. Be interesting to see how the ASB would rule on the KFC ad discussed elsewhere on mUmBRELLA – which is essentially exactly the same concept, just featuring adults.
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Children eat your fruit not some jelly stuff supposedly with fruit.
Good that the ad was banned and it should never have been made in the first place.
Jelly can never replace fresh fruit and advertising giants like coca cola should be ashamed of itself for ever OK ing this ad to air on TV
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I hope the PR person at Coca Cola Amatil is well-paid, they’ll be earning every cent for the foreseeable future…
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Good to hear its Banned ,could not believe it was allowed in the first place .
Was shocked when i first saw the ad,also found it very offensive
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This is ridiculous
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Which agency did this ad?
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Throwing fruits is a crazy thing to do. I don’t like the idea of the advertisement because children seeing those ad would think it is encourage not to eat fruits and throw it and they prefer the jelly snack. It’s BIG NO for that product.
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the jelly does not give any protein or vitamin … the fruits have so much of natural vitamins so kids should have atleast 3 fruits a day …this ad creates a wrong impression in the minds of kids … this ad should have been banned
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As a mother and a creative person – let me enlight those winging bluecollar parents about fun good food. Create swirly apple curls, carrot and mini dips and draw a big smiley on a banana. Kids eat good food and the jelly stays where it belongs – in a jelly cup for dessert.
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And how much refined sugar is in these ‘alternatives’ too? As a mother of three children in the primary school system – I have enough issues with my canteen serving processed food – without CCA adding to the cause! I could go on and on about this but basically kids not only need this nutritionally but they need to be educated on good food choices, knowing what is in your food and of course supporting our farmers!
Good work ASB!!
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I for one am glad this has been banned. I find I am unable to think for myself, and therefore require regulators to ban things that they may deem bad for me.
Thank you, nanny state.
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It’s a bloody ad…get over it. Especially all of the mothers that are bitching – think about it, the fruit/veg that your kids receive in school are more than often thrown out. At least it acts as an alternative. God forbid a 30sec ad being shown, however, we let our children watch all of the sex driven tv shows that they can possibly wrap their minds around.
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Ben – the advertisement isn’t only targeted at the consumer (the adult purchasing) but also the influencer (children) Adults can obviously make a informed/educated choice – but I don’t think kids should think that processed food is a replacement for fresh fruit and advocate throwing it away.
Cal, it is an ad – it’s pretty presumptuous to say all kids watch sexed up ads/tv shows isn’t it? The previous addressed to Ben stands here too.
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I would say this ad is misleading but it mostly the parents should teach their kids to eat fruits instead of jelly . children should be taught to ear healthy as there are no vitamin in these jelly. thanks for the article
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