‘Misleading’ Waitrose farming ad banned by ASA
Waitrose has been rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for making misleading claims about the welfare of pigs reared for Waitrose pork.
The ruling will come as a blow to Waitrose, which champions its high standards of animal welfare and commitment to British Farming.
The television and press ad campaign starred Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal with pigs being fed by a farmer in a field and laying in a bed of straw.
The ad stated: “That’s the great thing with putting your confidence in someone like Waitrose. They’ve been supporting British farmers for decades.”
Blumenthal then goes on to discuss the benefits of “outdoor bred” pork.
Five complaints challenged the ads for implying Waitrose pork came from pigs that spend the duration of their lives outdoors, which is not the case for outdoor reared pigs which are born outdoors but are reared indoors after several weeks.
Waitrose says that it was “mindful of using the correct term” and believed that outdoor bred was “an accurate and not misleading description”.
The supermarket ads that outdoor bred is an “industry wide term with recognised meaning” and is “distinct” from the term outdoor reared which describes pigs that spend half their lives in fields.
The ad has been banned and the upmarket grocery chain has been warned it must ensure future marketing campaigns do not make misleading claims.
