ITC Grills McDonald’s Over Misleading TV Ad

The ITC has upheld complaints against a TV campaign for McDonald’s for portraying a product in a way that was likely to mislead consumers.

The advertising watchdog acted after a number of viewers complained that McDonald’s Steak Premier, which was shown containing a substantial amount of dressing, peppers and onions, bore little resemblance to the ones they had bought in McDonald’s restaurants.

Viewers objected that the actual product was flat, not as well filled with peppers and onions and that the consistency of the dressing was thinner than that shown in the ad.

McDonald’s insisted that the advertisers had followed careful guidelines to ensure that the product featured in the ad was representative of what would be supplied to consumers. They argued that the product shown in the commercial contained the same quantity of ingredients as those sold in the restaurants, but admitted that a proportion of the toppings had been moved to the edge of the product for filming.

The ITC felt that there was a disparity between the quantity of toppings in the purchased products against those shown in the television commercial. The watchdog concluded that presentation, quantity and proportion of ingredients varied considerably and ruled that the ad was misleading. The complaints were upheld.

Last month the ITC censured a controversial national television ad campaign for Take A Break after more than 300 viewers complained that it degraded the elderly (see ITC Upholds Complaints Against H Bauer’s Take A Break).

ITC: 0207 306 7743 www.itc.org.uk

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