July 23, 2018

The decision concerned a TV ad for the Quaker Oats “Show us your oats” competition, seen in February and March 2018.

The TV ad featured four people preparing and plating their porridge oats, stating, “My entry’s a strawberry and kiwi mix”, “This is my coconut creation”, “These are my overnight oats with raspberries and blueberries” and “Mum’s entry, peanut butter and banana porridge”. The voice-over stated, “Your recipes, your rules. Share your ideas for the chance to win £10,000 every week with Quaker. Come on, show us your oats”.

Complainants challenged whether the promotion was fairly administered in accordance with the judging criteria and whether the promotion was in breach of the Code.

The ASA observed that the terms and conditions of the competition referred to four judging criteria that were taken into consideration when selecting a winning entry, one of which referred to the visual appeal of the entry. The winning entries appeared to be professional quality images submitted from industry professionals, such as bloggers. The ASA said that although the TV ad showed entries being carefully assembled and captured using a smartphone, this did not mean that participants could not use other devices to do so, such as a high-resolution camera. It was reasonable to expect that winning entries would be of a high visual quality and the terms did not expressly state that industry professionals would be excluded from entering the competition.

The ASA concluded that the promotion had been conducted in accordance with the judging criteria and was fairly administered. There had also been no breach of BCAP Code rule 28.1 (Competitions). To read ASA Ruling on Walkers Snacks Ltd t/a Quaker Oats (20 June 2018), click here.