“Misleading” adverts for Zoe and Huel featuring Steven Bartlett have been banned by the advertising regulator because the companies failed to disclose their commercial relationship with the celebrity entrepreneur.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that Facebook adverts in which Bartlett endorsed the two nutrition businesses had “omitted material information” about their links to the Dragon’s Den star, Social Chain founder and Diary of a CEO host.
Bartlett’s Flight Fund investment vehicle has invested in Zoe, while his Flight Story business is a shareholder in Huel. He has also been a director of Huel since 2021.
The adverts breached rules that govern non-broadcast advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing communications and “must not appear again in the form complained about,” the regulator said in its ruling, published today.
Zoe, a health testing and membership service which advises users on changing their diets, ran an ad on February 26 that attracted two complaints, featuring Bartlett saying: “If you haven’t tried Zoe yet, give it a shot. It might just change your life.” Text below this stated “STEVEN BARTLETT,” the ASA noted in its ruling.
The regulator said this was “reminiscent of how a customer might review a product, and how an independent testimonial might be presented.” His position as an investor in Zoe “was material to consumers’ understanding of the ad and relevant in making an informed decision,” the regulator concluded.
Zoe countered that its ad was clearly labelled as sponsored material on Facebook, and argued that it is not a requirement to detail the exact nature of a brand ambassador’s commercial relationship with a brand under existing regulations.
A Zoe spokesperson told Prolific North: “Our ad was posted from the ZOE Facebook account, with the ‘Sponsored’ label, clearly marking it as an ad. The ASA acknowledged, in its ruling, that the ad was indeed ‘obviously identifiable’ as a marketing communication.
“Neither the Code nor any of the ASA’s guidance suggests that it is necessary to go into granular detail about the precise nature of an ambassador’s commercial relationship with a brand. We believe the ad was compliant with the Cap Code.
“We respect the ASA’s work in upholding transparency in online advertising and have provided a written assurance that it will not appear again in that form. We would welcome further guidance to bring clarity on the effect of this decision, to ensure that all our future advertising complies with the Cap Code.”
Two Huel ads were up before the regulator: “The first ad, seen on 18 February 2024, featured an image of Huel’s Daily Greens drink with text that stated ‘This is Huel’s best product’ Steven Bartlett.’ The caption stated ‘Ever wondered what Steven Bartlett actually thinks of Huel’s Daily Greens? Well there you have it,” the ASA’s report recapped.
“The second ad, seen on 19 March 2024, showed two videos side-by-side; one showed Steven Bartlett and the other showed a person looking at their mobile phone. Superimposed text between the videos stated ‘Is Huel actually nice?’ Bartlett stated, ‘This is the best product that Huel have released.’ The ad then cut to video of the person looking at the phone, who stated, ‘I keep seeing this guy all over the internet talking about Huel’ while superimposed text stated ‘Responding to Steven Bartlett’. They then said, ‘So let’s give it a try’ and a packet of Huel’s Daily Greens powder entered the shot. They were then shown preparing and drinking Huel’s Daily Greens, and stated, ‘Fair play, Steven, I see your point.’”
The regulator acknowledged that the adverts were “obviously identifiable” as marketing but that many consumers would “interpret the ads as featuring a testimonial from Bartlett about one of Huel’s products.”
Many consumers were “unlikely to understand from the ads that Steven Bartlett had a financial interest in Huel’s performance,” the regulator found. “We considered that Bartlett’s directorship was material to consumers’ understanding of the ads, and so relevant for them in making an informed decision about the advertised product.”
Huel did not respond to a request for comment, while Bartlett’s representatives advised us to direct enquiries to the brands which had actually been found in breach of regulations.
Shakes and nutrition bar maker Huel is no stranger to the ASA. In February 2023 it had an ad pulled over “misleading” and “irresponsible” claims that customers could eat healthily for a month for under £50 using its products, while a March 2022 ad on Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast was also banned by the watchdog.
That spot featured Bartlett praising the new coffee-caramel-flavoured Huel, and was banned as “the commercial intent behind the ad was not made clear upfront.”
