The advert featured someone arranging Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Clusters on the grill as if they were kebabs while a couple in front of the TV scoffed the clusters down like popcorn.
Two viewers wrote in to the ASA to complain about the ad but their complaint was not centred on the unusual eating habits, but rather the size of the cereal pieces. They said the nut clusters were bigger on screen than they were in real life.
Kellogg’s denied the claim and told the UK advertising watchdog that the cereal pieces were genuine and were from actual packets of Crunchy Nut Clusters cereal.
Natural variation
The cereal manufacturer added that the pieces actually vary in diameter from 10mm to 30mm and this was reflected in the cereal depicted on screen.
To assess the response, the ASA bought a packet of Crunchy Nut Clusters and separated out the broken clusters from the larger, fully formed pieces. Examining only the full clusters that were not broken in transit, the watchdog said they varied in size as Kellogg’s had claimed.
Ruling
The ASA said that viewers would understand that not all clusters in the pack would be fully formed and that they would in fact vary in size and shape. However, it said people were also likely to expect that the clusters depicted in the ad would be of a similar size to those found in the actual product.
Judging the ad on these criteria, the ASA said there were some differences in size and shape but that for the most part the sample clusters were similar to those shown in the ad.
The ASA therefore concluded that “because we considered that the ad did not overly exaggerate the size of the clusters, we concluded that it was unlikely to mislead.” No further action was considered necessary.