Background
Summary of Council decision:
Three issues were investigated, one was Not upheld, one was Upheld and one was Upheld in part.
Ad description
A regional press ad and an online video, for Iceland Foods:
a. The press ad included images of loaves of bread and stated “Frozen brings you freshly baked artisan bread straight from your oven … #PowerofFrozen”.
b. The online video also featured images of various bread products, including the packaged products, and claims made by the presenter included “… all of the items featured on this video are part of our new bakery range … The range includes stone baked and every day breads, as well as patisseries, ensuring that you and your family can enjoy freshly baked treats … These yummy products have literally just been baked straight from the freezer … This entire range is … easy to cook”. It also showed the exterior of a windmill, and an interview with a baker, who appeared to be inside the windmill. He was shown preparing dough by hand and baking it in a brick oven. He stated, “We have a lot of beautiful products in the Iceland range. My favourites are the sourdough loaf, the corn bread and the rye bread … our stone baked bread is made from the best wheat, sourdough, water, salt and an amount of yeast … The philosophy … is that we only use natural ingredients. We want to go back to the roots of baking. … Once at home, store the bread in the freezer, bake the bread frozen in the oven …” The presenter continued, “My favourite part of this range is the Belgian waffles …” The final shots were also of several different products.
Issue
1. The Real Bread Campaign (Sustain) and a member of the public, who understood the bread was produced using automated industrial techniques, and that at least some of the products included artificial additives, challenged whether the use of “artisan”, in ad (a), and the depiction of the baking process, in ad (b), were misleading.
The Real Bread Campaign also challenged whether the claims:
2. “freshly baked” in both ads was misleading, because they understood the products were intended to be cooked from frozen; and
3. “our stone baked bread is made from the best wheat, sourdough, water, salt and an amount of yeast” in ad (b) was misleading, because they believed the product included additional ingredients such as artificial additives.
Response
1. Iceland Foods Ltd said all of their stone baked bread products were produced using a long fermentation process and stone floor ovens. The mixing and fermenting could take up to 20 hours and after cutting and shaping the dough, the loaves were proved for a further two hours before baking. They said the bakery that produced the stone baked range had confirmed it did not use a high speed mixing process for those products, but low gear mixers that allowed for greater water absorption. They had also confirmed that no undeclared processing aids were used during manufacturing. Qualified bakers developed artisan products, which were then scaled up and produced using technology that applied the traditional principles of bread making on an industrial scale. Iceland Foods said the scenes of the windmill and the bread being kneaded in ad (b) were intended to represent the traditional methods and ingredients involved in producing the stone baked products. They believed that while the products were not made or kneaded by hand, consumers were not likely to be misled into believing the products were produced in a windmill, because they would expect such items to be mass-produced.
Iceland Foods believed that “artisan”, in ad (a), was also not misleading and that because the expression was now more widely used than previously, consumers would appreciate that its use had altered over time. They understood the complainant’s view was that artisan bread was bread cooked in small batches using skilled manual processes at or near to the point of sale, but believed that consumers would not understand from “artisan” that the products were produced in the way the complainant described. While Iceland Foods believed the ad was not misleading, they said they were prepared to make changes to it.
2. Iceland Foods said the products were to be oven baked from frozen by consumers. They believed the references to “freshly baked” were not misleading in the contexts in which they appeared, because the ads made clear that the bread should be baked in the consumer’s own oven; as such, it was freshly baked from frozen. They pointed out that ad (a) stated “Frozen brings you freshly baked artisan bread straight from your own oven”, and that ad (b) said “… baked straight from the freezer”. They believed the use of “freshly baked” was not limited to instances where bread was baked from scratch in a continuous process, with no part-baking or freezing of the dough, but that the context in which the claim was made was of importance. The ads did not claim that the products were freshly baked when they were purchased, but instead made clear that the baking was carried out by the consumer. They said the bakery had confirmed the products were fresh when they underwent the freezing process.
3. They explained that the stone baked products did not contain any artificial ingredients or additives. The only additives were dextrose and wheat gluten, both of which were also naturally present in the flour. Those ingredients were added to ensure that consistent fermentation and structure could be achieved, despite naturally varying flour. They provided details of the ingredients and specifications of each of their six stone baked products.
Assessment
1. Upheld (in relation to ad (b) only)
The ASA noted that “artisan”, in ad (a), was used in the context of the claim “Frozen brings you freshly baked artisan bread straight from your oven” and that the ad also included the text “#PowerofFrozen”. As such, we considered it made clear the bread was sold frozen, to be baked at home. We also noted ad (a) did not make any claims about ingredients or baking processes. For those reasons, and given that the Iceland Foods brand was one that would be recognisable to many consumers, we considered consumers were likely to understand it was probable that such products would be produced on an industrial scale and, as such, might include ingredients additional to those used during hand baking processes. We considered, in the context in which it appeared, “artisan” was likely to be understood to mean that the products concerned were artisan-style, or ‘premium’, frozen items, rather than, for example, that the loaves were made using the same ingredients and processes as hand baking. We understood that all of the bread shown in ad (a) was from the stone baked range, and that it was subject to fewer processes, and contained fewer additional ingredients, than some other mass-produced products. Given that, and the way in which we considered consumers were likely to understand the claim within the overall context of ad (a), we concluded that it was not misleading.
We noted ad (b) included the statements “These yummy products have literally just been baked straight from the freezer” and “Once at home, store the bread in the freezer, bake the bread frozen in the oven”. We again considered consumers were likely to understand that the products were intended to be baked at home, rather than to be eaten directly after purchase, as might be the case with bread bought from a bakery. We also considered consumers were likely to appreciate that products available at a large national retailer were likely to be mass-produced. However, we considered the depiction of the baking process in ad (b), which appeared to take place in the setting of a windmill and showed the bread being prepared from scratch, including kneading, cutting and shaping the loaves by hand, along with claims such as “We want to go back to the roots of baking”, was such that it was likely to be understood to mean the products in question were instead produced by hand, before being sold for home freezing and baking, whereas that was not the case.
Unlike ad (a), ad (b) showed the entire product range and, as such, we considered it was likely to be interpreted as suggesting all of the items were produced in the way depicted. However, while we understood that the stone baked items were subject to a reduced number of processes and ingredients when compared to some other mass-produced products, we also understood that none of the products in the range, including the stone baked items, were produced by hand. As set out at point 3 below, we also considered the ad suggested the products shown in ad (b), in particular the stone baked items, included fewer ingredients than was the case. Because the depiction of the baking process, and claims surrounding it, did not accurately reflect the way in which the products were produced, and suggested they contained fewer ingredients than was the case, we concluded that ad (b) breached the Code.
On that point, we investigated ad (a) under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation) but did not find it in breach. Ad (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation).
2. Not upheld
As set out above, we noted ad (a), which stated “Frozen brings you freshly baked artisan bread straight from your oven” and “#PowerofFrozen”, did not include any claims about production processes. While ad (b) included claims about the production process, the claim “freshly baked” did not appear in that part of the video. “Freshly baked” also appeared in the context of the statements “These yummy products have literally just been baked straight from the freezer” and “Once at home, store the bread in the freezer, bake the bread frozen in the oven”. We therefore considered consumers were likely to understand the products were intended to be baked at home before eating, and that “freshly baked” therefore related to home baking, rather than to the bread being freshly baked prior to purchase. We concluded that the ads were not misleading on that point.
On that point, we investigated the ads under CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising), but did not find them in breach.
3. Upheld
We considered the claim “our stone baked bread is made from the best wheat, sourdough, water, salt and an amount of yeast”, particularly in the context of the depiction of the baking process in ad (b), which we considered suggested the bread was handmade, was likely to be understood to mean the stone baked products included only the ingredients referred to. We noted the ad also included claims such as “We want to go back to the roots of baking” and “we only use natural ingredients”, which we considered contributed to that impression. However, we understood the stone baked range included additional ingredients, such as dextrose, wheat gluten and vegetable oil. Because it suggested the stone baked bread range included fewer ingredients than was the case, we concluded that ad (b) was misleading.
On that point, ad (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 3.1 Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 3.7 Before distributing or submitting a marketing communication for publication, marketers must hold documentary evidence to prove claims that consumers are likely to regard as objective and that are capable of objective substantiation. The ASA may regard claims as misleading in the absence of adequate substantiation. (Substantiation).
Action
Ad (b) must not appear again in its current form. We told Iceland Foods Ltd to ensure their future ads did not state or imply products were subject to fewer processes, or contained fewer ingredients, than was the case.
