An advert from meal-replacement business Huel has been banned by the UK advertising regulator for “misleading” claims.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said a Huel video advert on Instagram from April breached its rules, the third time in two months the company had fallen foul of the watchdog.
The video featured Huel founder Julian Hearn discussing the Daily Greens product, claiming: “You’ve been told your whole life to eat greens and a lot of people can’t get that amount of greens into their diet … we’ve taken a very broad range of greens, so you get a product which is equally good, or in my eyes better, but you get it substantially cheaper.”
The ASA claimed the comparison between Huel’s product and “greens” was “non-permitted” and took issue with the claim that Huel is “substantially cheaper” than produce as well as the general health claims of the post.
In response, Huel said the advert had been shortened due to an editing error.
The UK company said the full advert made the comparison with “market-leading daily greens products” but it acknowledged that the video in question appeared to compare Huel with fresh vegetables.
Huel could not be reached for further comment at the time of writing.
Last month, the ASA banned two paid-for Facebook adverts for Huel and one for personal nutrition company Zoe, The ads featured Steven Bartlett who is an investor in Zoe and a director at Huel.
The spots were visible in February and March 2024. The ASA ruled neither company disclosed their professional links with Bartlett in their respective adverts, thus misleading the consumer to think the views he stated were an independent review, according to the agency.
Last year, the ASA banned two other Huel adverts on Facebook for making unsupported health and finance-related claims. The agency said paid social media advertising from Huel claimed that its meal replacement shakes were cheaper and healthier than a traditional diet.
One month later, Huel removed an advert targeting students on TikTok emphasising the affordability of their products.
