Banned Kellogg’s Campaign Tops Controversy Survey
A controversial cinema advertisement for Kellogg’s Frosties, which was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority, has come out top in the latest Ads That Make News survey.
The commercial captured the most column inches in national newspapers during October after being banned over its claim that Frosties is a healthy option for children, when, in fact, the average bowl contains more sugar than a jam doughnut (see Frosties Campaign Slammed Over Misleading Health Claim).
BSkyB took second place in the survey, produced by Propeller Communications and Durrants Media Monitoring, due to the launch of its £75 million advertising campaign. The cross-platform push attracted a significant amount of press coverage after news broke that it was the biggest in the satellite broadcaster’s history (see Sky Targets Digital Refuseniks With Cross-Media Campaign).
Third place went to telecommunications firm 3’s bizarre television advertising campaign, which featuring a giant jellyfish and two elderly Japanese men in cowboy boots. The ad, which made no reference to mobile technology, signalled a move away from the straight sell towards brand marketing.
Complaints from the Salt Manufacturers Association helped push the Food Standards Agency’s anti-salt campaign into fourth place in terms of press coverage. The ad, which featured a giant slug, was branded “incorrect and potentially damaging” by its critics, but the ASA decided not to launch an investigation into the claims.
Commenting on the findings, Martin Loat, director of Propeller Communications, said: “The children’s food and obesity debate is clearly one of the talking points of the year. This is having a knock-on effect in forcing advertising campaigns for food or healthy eating up the news agenda.”
Lynx’s new campaign featuring a boy and girl walking semi-naked through the streets brought the deodorant’s new campaign in at six in this month’s Ads That Make News survey. Meanwhile, a spoof film for McCain’s played during an entire break junction in Coronation Street put the chip manufacturer seventh place.
| Top Ten Ads That Make News For October 2004 | |
| 1 | Kellogg’s Frosties (‘eat right’ slogan banned) |
| 2 | BSkyB (new £75m campaign) |
| 3 | 3 (surreal new jellyfish ad) |
| 4 | Food Standards Agency (Sid the Slug campaign) |
| 5 | Kingsmill (The King has Risen campaign) |
| 6 | Lynx (sexy new ad) |
| 7 | McCain (long lost film spoof) |
| 8 | Pepsi (martial arts ad) |
| 9 | Walkers (new campaign) |
| 10 | Martini (George Clooney and girlfriend Lisa Snowdon in new ad) |
| Propeller Communications | |
In August the John Smith’s ‘No Nonsense’ television campaign topped the charts in terms of newspaper coverage for a second time. Despite employing an old execution, the company managed to cash in on the hype surrounding this year’s Olympic Games (see John Smiths Courts Column Inches With Olympic Spoof).
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