Yo! Sushi is the latest brand to find itself choking on a decision of the Advertising Standards Authority to ban an ad for a Less Healthy Food since the new regulations came into force in January this year.
In this instance, the ad in question was a paid-for Instagram post which featured a sequence of animated images. Large text on a red and gold background with cherry blossom stated, "better than an egg". The background then turned red, and white text stated, "Have a break", with the word "break" splitting into two halves. Small YO! and KitKat logos appeared at the bottom of the image and further white text stated, "from tradition". The text then disappeared and the two logos moved to the centre of the image. An overlaid text box stated, "Have a break from tradition" and further text stated, "YO! yosushi.com". Beneath the animation, text stated, "Made with KITKAT® Cream Puff" alongside a button labelled "Learn more".
The complaint was that the ad breached the new Rule 15.19 of the CAP Code because it was a paid ad for identifiable less healthy food products placed on the internet. One notable point is that the single complainant was Bite Back, a charity that declares, "Giant food companies continue to flood our world with junk, and then manipulate us using cute and clever marketing. It's everywhere, and we're surrounded." This is the fifth complaint from Bite Back that has been upheld by the ASA this year. Like another campaign group, Ad Free Cities, they have discovered that the ASA is a great platform for them to further their fight against "cute and clever marketing". We assume they also complain about vulgar and stupid advertising, but that is not entirely clear.
When they were called out, Yo! confirmed that the limited-edition Chocolate Cream Puff made with KitKat® was an HFSS product, but that they had no written agreement with Nestlé and no money had passed between them, the ingredients having been sourced through third-parties. In fairness to Nestlé, they are not named as a party to the Ruling, so they did catch a break.
YO! also explained that they had intended to promote their brand collaboration with the KitKat brand, rather than a specific product. They had approved a version without the words "Made with KITKAT® cream puff" which had been added in error at a late stage. YO! accepted that these extra words meant that an identifiable less healthy food had been depicted in the ad.
The image which accompanies this post is not taken from the offending Instagram ad, which we understand did not feature images of any food product. However, the text "Made with KITKAT® cream puff" remained on screen throughout and YO!'s menu featured only one cream puff product, the Chocolate Cream Puff made with KitKat®. The ASA Council therefore concluded that consumers could reasonably be expected to identify that the ad was for the YO! and KitKat brands, including "less healthy" products, and additionally for the Chocolate Cream Puff made with KitKat® menu item in particular.
As the Chocolate Cream Puff made with KitKat® is an HFSS food and in Category 9 of the Less Health Food advertising regulations, that was enough to finger Yo! for breaking the CAP Code.
