The paid-for ad appeared during a YouTube video about the Minecraft game, which was deemed to appeal to children.
Complaints against a Domino’s Pizza ad have been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), after the watchdog found content promoting an HFSS product was likely to appeal to children.
The ad, which appeared during a Minecraft YouTube video, was for Domino’s Cadbury Creme Egg cookie, which is classed as a high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) food. Current restrictions around HFSS foods mean advertising for these products must not be targeted at under-16s and ads for these sorts of products should not appear on media likely to have strong appeal to children.
The Domino’s ad was shown as a paid-for ad on YouTube channel Milo and Chip during a video about the game Minecraft.
In its response to the complaint, Domino’s said it had taken steps to ensure the ad was not targeted at under-18s and that it had followed Google’s (which owns YouTube) rules for HFSS content. The brand said the ad was only shown to signed-in users, restricted to over-18s and excluded all YouTube made for kids channels. Additionally, Domino’s had labelled its channel as being HFSS, as Google’s rules require.
The pizza chain also pushed back on the idea that Minecraft content inherently appeals to children, citing stats suggesting users under the age of 15 make up less than 21% of the game’s player base worldwide.
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However, the ASA ruled the ad did indeed appear in media likely to appeal to children. As well as noting the popularity of the Minecraft game among children, the regulator pointed to graphics used in the video itself, which it said would be appeal to this younger audience. The ASA also noted the dialogue used in the video, which was in the style of one of the characters Milo “who had a high-pitched and child-like voice”.
While the watchdog said that it understood measures had been taken to avoid the ad being targeted at children, it ruled these had not gone far enough. Domino’s did not take “sufficient care to ensure the HFSS ad was not directed at individuals under the age of 16, through the medium in which it appeared”, the ASA ruled.
The ASA told Domino’s to appropriately target its ads in future. However, in coming months, many HFSS ads will disappear from screen altogether. From 1 October, rules banning “less healthy” food (LHF) from online advertising and from TV pre-9pm will come into force. The LHF category is a subsect of HFSS.
This means an ad like the Creme Egg Cookie video, which shows a LHF product, would not be allowed on YouTube regardless of the content it appears beside. What will still be allowed, however, is ads for brands like Domino’s which sell LHF products, provided they do not show or reference any such products.
