August 13, 2018

A TV ad for Coco Pops Granola, shown during the children’s programme “Mr Bean” on 3 January 2018, consisted of a group of animated animals. Coco the Monkey showed a hyena character a bowl of cereal and said, “Coco Pops Granola, it’s so chocolatey, so crispy, and look at the milk, it’s turning all chocolatey. Mmm. So, want some?” The hyena licked his lips, said “Chocolatey!” and grabbed the bowl from Coco. A voice-over said, “Coco Pops Granola. Tasty fun for everyone”. Small on-screen text shown throughout most of the ad stated, “Enjoy as part of a healthy diet and active lifestyle, 45g of Coco Pops Granola = 9% RI for sugar.”

The Obesity Health Alliance challenged whether the ad was an ad for a product that was high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS product) that was advertised in programmes commissioned for, principally directed at or likely to appeal to audiences below the age of 16.

The ASA considered whether the ad had the effect of promoting an HFSS product through the use of branding.

The ASA noted that the only product featured in the ad was Coco Pops Granola, which was a non-HFSS product. However, “Coco Pops” was a well-established brand, and Coco the Monkey, who was used to advertise all the products in the range, was also well established as an equity brand character. The ASA considered that many adults and children were likely to very strongly associate the “Coco Pops” brand and Coco the Monkey primarily with Coco Pops original cereal, which was an HFSS product at the time.

The ad included a close-up shot of the bowl of cereal with the focus on the milk quickly turning brown from the chocolate. The ASA said that viewers would closely associate the phrase that the milk was “turning all chocolatey” with Coco Pops original cereal. Although the voice-over at the end of the ad referred to “Coco Pops Granola”, it was accompanied by the recognisable Coco Pops audio logo tune, which was used in ads for products across the range.

As for the packaging, although the pack shot at the end of the ad featured the word “GRANOLA”, the word was in smaller text than the brand name “Coco Pops”. Further, the pack was dominated by an image of Coco the Monkey, and the background colour of the packaging was the same bright yellow as that used for all Coco Pops products. The ASA considered that the overall presentation of the product pack was very similar to that of Coco Pops original cereal and other HFSS products in the range.

Overall, the ASA considered that the Coco Pops branding was significantly more prominent than the references to the granola product, and that therefore the focus of the ad was on the Coco Pops branding, which was synonymous with Coco Pops original cereal and with the Coco Pops range, rather than specifically on the granola product. The ASA concluded that the ad had the effect of promoting an HFSS product and HFSS product range through the use of branding. The ad was therefore an HFSS product ad for the purposes of the Code, and the rules relating to the targeting of HFSS product ads applied.

The ad was seen by the complainant between episodes of the “Mr Bean” cartoon, during a section of programming specifically dedicated to programmes commissioned for and directed at children under 16. The ASA therefore concluded that the ad breached BCAP Code rules 32.5 and 32.5.1(Scheduling). (ASA Ruling on Kellogg Marketing and Sales Company (UK) Ltd (8 August 2018) — to read the Ruling in full, click here.)