Dairylea ad banned for showing children eating upside down
A Dairylea ad, which showed two young girls hanging upside down, has been banned by the advertising watchdog for condoning unsafe behaviour for children.
It comes after 14 people complained to the Advertising Standards Authority, and challenged whether the ad encouraged unsafe behaviour that could be dangerous for children to emulate.
The advert showed two girls hanging upside down from a 5-a-side football goal post and having a conversation about where food went when you hang upside down.
One of the girls opened a Dairylea Cheese Triangle and proceeded to eat it, whilst hanging upside down.
Dairylea owner Mondelez UK said the intention of the ad was to show parents allowing their children to have more freedom; the children in the ad were six and eight years of age and two parents can be seen in the background supervising the children.
Mondelez argued that although the children were hanging upside down, they were nearly touching the floor and therefore were at a safe distance so as to not fall and hurt themselves.
It added that the risk of choking was low when upside down, and pointed to research that suggested someone’s ability to swallow was not affected by the position they ate in.
The advert, which featured on ITV Hub, All 4 and My 5 in August 2021, was scheduled away from programming commissioned for under 16s. Mondelez suggested that this meant the ad would have very limited exposure to children.
However, the consumer goods giant said they were no longer running the ad and would remove references to eating upside down if they used the ad in future.
The ASA agreed with the complainants and has now banned the advert.
The watchdog recognised the risk of children imitating the advert, and it said in its ruling: “Although the ad was specifically for a soft cheese, we considered that younger children would be encouraged by the ad to mimic the behaviour in other settings, and with other foods. Therefore, we considered the ad condoned and encouraged eating whilst hanging upside down.”
The ASA said it had sought expert views on child accidents, and was advised that there was potentially a high risk of choking in that situation.
“We also noted that one complainant had reported that their three-year-old relative, after seeing the ad, ate their food whilst hanging upside down,” it said in its ruling.
A Mondelez spokesman told the BBC: “We recognise and will abide by the ASA’s decision but we are disappointed by the ruling. It was aimed at adults (parents) rather than young children and was deliberately scheduled away from programming likely to appeal to children under 16. As such, we believe it was unlikely to encourage ‘copycat’ behaviour by young children.”
“We remain committed to responsible advertising and work with a range of partners to make sure our marketing meets and complies with all relevant UK regulations.”