An advert for the takeaway delivery service Just Eat that featured a McDonald’s burger has been banned for not taking sufficient care to ensure that it was not aimed at children under 16.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the paid-for Facebook advert must not appear again in its current form after it upheld a complaint made by Bite Back 2030, a youth activist movement challenging junk food.
Bite Back 2030 challenged whether the advert was for a product that was high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) and was directed at children through the selection of media or context in which it appeared.
The advert for Just Eat, seen on 15 December 2023, featured text that stated: “Fancy a McMuffin in the morning? McNuggets 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 had argued that the targeting of the ad was responsible: it said it had aimed the promotion at individuals aged over 18 using Meta’s age-targeting tools. It argued that if the complainant had a Facebook account registered with an age under 18, they would not have been able to see the ad at that time.
The Committee of Advertising Practice code requires that HFSS product ads are not directed at people under 16 through the selection of media or the context in which they appear.
The ASA said it acknowledged that age-based targeting was applied to the ad to exclude those registered as under-18 on Facebook from seeing the promotion. However, interest-based targeting factors had not been used to exclude groups of people more likely to be under 16 from the target audience, it said.
“We concluded that Just Eat had not taken sufficient care to ensure that the ad, which promoted several HFSS products, was not directed at individuals aged under 16 years. The ad therefore breached the code,” the ASA said.
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.
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“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.”