Birds Eye ‘colourants added’ salmon ads spark ASA probe

The storm of protest over Birds Eye’s latest advertising campaign for its salmon products – in which it refers to farmed salmon having colourants added to their feed – has taken a new turn, with the Advertising Standards Authority stepping in to investigate.

A spokeswoman for the ASA confirms that the regulatory body has launched an enquiry after receiving a complaint from a member of the public over the TV ad, created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

The ASA has also received a number of complaints about Birds Eye’s poster campaign, showing vegetables and fish half in a block of ice and half out. The poster copy refers to frozen foods not losing vitamins while fresh food do. The ASA has yet to decide whether to formally investigate the posters.

⢠The ASA has strongly reprimanded TV shopping channel One TV after invest- igating 65 complaints from consumers about goods not arriving or refunds not being given.

One TV said in its defence that problems had resulted from the resignation of a number of senior executives, suppliers’ failure to fulfil orders correctly and poor call handling at the call centre it had been using. It claimed it was addressing the issues.

The ASA ruled, however, that One TV should have warned customers earlier about problems, and that it should also have informed the ASA and Ofcom. The ASA says it will be closely monitoring further complaints.