Background
Summary of Council decision:
Three issues were investigated, all of which were Upheld.
Ad description
An Instagram reel for The Skinny Food Co, posted on Katie Price’s account on 20 August 2023. It featured Ms Price making meals for herself throughout the day and talking about her efforts to lose weight. Ms Price was heard in the voice-over saying, “Morning everyone. So here I am making my delicious coffee, with the caramelised biscuit Skinny Food zero calorie syrup. It’s fat free and sugar free too. And on top of that I absolutely love my Skinny Food porridge and guess what, it only has 262 calories. 14 grams of protein, and trust me so yummy …” She then made lunch for herself, saying, “So I am going to have a quick lunch today with the Skinny Food high protein wraps. You won’t believe how good they are. They are also low in sugar, high in fibre, perfect lunch … But what’s best is that garlic mayo sauce on top. They come in so many different flavours. And guess what! Yup, zero calories too …” Ms Price then made her dinner and said, “Here I am, God look at that double chin, here’s why I’m on the Skinny Foods, Jesus, look at that double chin. Now, everyone knows I love a curry, so tonight, I am making a chicken tikka takeaway meal … The curry is low in sugar, high protein and only 189 calories …” The video ended with Katie Price having a post-dinner snack, saying, “Tonight I am having the Skinny Food chocoholic malt balls. They’re only 89 calories per packet, low in sugar, and these really do hit the spot.” The final shot said, “Total calories for the day = 755.”
The caption stated, “Another example of how you can eat so many delicious meals and snacks in the day. All of this was only 755 calories and helping me stay in a calorie deficit to shift some extra pounds when needed […] If I have a bad day I like to go in a calorie deficit to ensure it’s not a bad week! What’s your favourite @skinnyfoodco products ? Save 30% off using code KP30 at checkout valid on all Skinny Food Co items. Enjoy [kiss emoji] xx #skinnyfoodco #ad #katieprice”.
Issue
The ASA received two complaints:
1. one complainant challenged whether the post was obviously recognisable as a marketing communication; and
2. both complainants, who believed that the diet promoted in the ads was very low in calories, challenged whether the ad was irresponsible.
3. The ASA challenged whether the weight loss claims for the products shown in the ad were authorised on the Great Britain nutrition and health claims register (the GB NHC Register).
Response
1. Not Guilty Food Co Ltd t/a The Skinny Food Co said that the reel included “#ad”, which they considered was sufficient to ensure that it was visible and clear that the reel was a paid promotion.
2. & 3. On these points, they said they could not control what Ms Price ate. They considered that the ad did not include any health claims, but the post itself talked about being in a caloric deficit, which was a proven way to achieve weight loss.
1., 2. & 3. Ms Price agreed to remove the ad. She confirmed that she followed a calorie deficit approach, which she believed many people in the UK did, and asked for further information on how to make similar posts compliant in future.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The CAP Code states that marketing communications must be obviously identifiable as such, and they must make clear their commercial intent if that was not obvious from the context. The CAP “Influencers' guide to making clear that ads are ads” further states that any label needs to be clear and prominent upfront.
The ASA understood that the Instagram reel was posted as part of a paid collaboration between Ms Price and The Skinny Food Co and was therefore an ad. It featured Ms Price consuming various meals from The Skinny Food Co throughout the day, talking about their nutritional content, and her efforts to lose weight. We considered that consumers would interpret the reel as Ms Price documenting her experience with weight loss and sharing meal ideas with her audience.
We acknowledged that the reel featured the hashtag “#ad” in the caption. However, the identifier was placed at the end of the caption and was not visible without engaging with the post and expanding the text. We therefore concluded that the label was insufficiently prominent to obviously identify the ad as a marketing communication from the outset.
On this point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 2.1 and 2.4 (Recognition of marketing communications).
2. Upheld
The CAP Code stated that ads must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society. It further stated that ads promoting diets that fell below 800 kilo-calories must do so only for short-term use and must encourage users to take medical advice before embarking on them.
The ad featured Ms Price consuming various food products throughout the day, which amounted to 755 kilocalories (kcal) in total. Because all the foods shown in the ad were part of The Skinny Food Co range, we considered that the ad recommended a diet based on those products. As such, it promoted a diet that fell below 800 kilo-calories a day. We therefore assessed whether it complied with the above rules.In the caption of the reel Ms Price stated, “[…] All of this was only 755 calories and helping me stay in a calorie deficit to shift some extra pounds when needed […] If I have a bad day I like to go in a calorie deficit to ensure it’s not a bad week! […]”. While the ad did not detail the specific time limits of Ms Price’s diet, we considered that consumers would understand from the caption that Ms Price followed this diet for a relatively short-term period, to counteract days where she had exceeded her calorie consumption target. However, there was no explicit instruction that the diet must only be followed on a short-term basis, and no reference, either within the video or the caption, to the need to take medical advice before embarking on this diet. We therefore considered that consumers would understand from the ad that they could elect to follow a similar diet that fell below 800 kcal a day by consuming the same products, and other products from The Skinny Food Co’s range, without taking medical advice, until they achieved their desired weight.
For the above reasons, we concluded that the ad irresponsibly promoted a diet that fell below 800 kcal a day and was in breach of the Code.
On this point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.3 (Responsible advertising) and 13.7 (Weight control and slimming).
3. Upheld
The CAP Code required that only health claims authorised on the GB NHC Register were permitted in marketing communications for foods, and that such claims must be supported by documentary evidence to show that the foods met the conditions of use associated with the relevant authorised claim. The CAP Code defined health claims as those that stated, suggested or implied a relationship between a food, drink or ingredient and health.
Claims that a food product could cause weight loss, or help to maintain weight after weight loss, were health claims for the purposes of the Code. Within the video, Ms Price emphasised the low calorific content of the products while making statements about using them to achieve a calorie deficit, and commented that she was consuming the foods because she had a double chin. The caption also stated, “755 calories and helping me stay in a calorie deficit to shift some extra pounds when needed”. We considered that the above claims, in addition to the overall impression of the ad, implied that the products shown could contribute to weight loss.
We additionally considered that in the context of the ad’s focus on the featured foods contributing to weight loss, the references to the food products as “Skinny Food(s)” would be understood by consumers as also being linked to weight loss, or helping to maintain weight after weight loss, and that consuming products from The Skinny Food Co would therefore have those effects. The claim “Skinny Food(s)”, in the context of the ad, was therefore also a health claim for the purposes of the CAP Code. The products in the range would therefore need to contain a substance or substances that would produce the physiological effect of weight loss or maintenance, for which there was an authorised health claim relating to weight loss or maintenance, and for which the product met the relevant conditions of use. However, we had not seen any evidence which demonstrated that was the case.
Because the ad made specific health claims that were not authorised on the GB NHC Register, we concluded that it breached the Code.
On this point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 15.1 and 15.1.1 (Food, food supplements and associated health or nutrition claims).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained about. We told Not Guilty Food Co Ltd t/a The Skinny Food Co and Katie Price to ensure that their future ads were obviously identifiable as marketing communications, and the commercial intent was made clear, and that identifiers such as “#ad” were clearly and prominently displayed. We also told them to ensure that their ads did not irresponsibly promote diets that fell below 800 kcal a day, and to only make weight loss or weight maintenance claims for foods if the claim was authorised on the Great Britain nutrition and health claims register and the foods met the associated conditions of use.
