An online ad for takeaway delivery service Just Eat has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for lack of care to ensure it was not aimed at children.
There are strict rules in the UK on the advertising of products that are high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS). The Committee of Advertising Practice code requires that HFSS product ads must not be directed at people under 16 years of age through the selection of media or the context in which they appear.
The Facebook ad for Just Eat stated “Fancy a McMuffin in the morning? McNugget for lunch? Or a big night in with a Big Mac? Get them delivered right here”. Below that was a changing image of McNuggets that was replaced by the Just Eat and McDonald’s logos.
Just Eat told the ASA that it had specifically targeted the ad at individuals aged over 18 years using Meta’s age targeting tools. This means that a user with a Facebook account registered with an age under 18 would not have been able to see the ad.
However, because of younger users misreporting their age or different people sharing the same device, the regulator said that interest-based targeting should also have been used in order to exclude users more likely to be under 16 from the target audience of the ad.
The regulator concluded that Just Eat had not taken sufficient care to ensure that the ad was not directed at children. It ruled that the ad must not appear again in its current form.
In response to the ruling, Just Eat said: “By filtering targeting to users aged over 18, we believe we took reasonable precautions to avoid protected age groups from seeing the advertisement.
“Although we are disappointed by this outcome, Just Eat acknowledges the ASA’s concerns. We are now reviewing our processes to ensure future promotions reach only the intended audience.”
