Huel adverts have been banned for being “misleading” to customers
Fitness brand Huel has had its adverts banned after claiming its meal replacement shakes could save customers money on food bills.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it took its advertising responsibilities seriously when pulling the ads for being “misleading”. One of the adverts that was banned appeared on Facebook, promoting one month's supply of Huel's meal replacement product costing £50. It claimed, “Huel helps keep money in your pockets.”
Another advert appeared on the brand's website which claimed the shakes could “help save money on food”. But the ASA ruled Huel did not show its products were cheaper than traditional food from the supermarket.
Huel markets its vegan shakes as "nutritionally complete food" that contain a "balance of all 26 essential vitamins and minerals, protein, essential fats, carbs, fibre, and phytonutrients in a single product".
The ASA also ruled that Huel didn't make it clear that its £50 claim was based on customers having one meal replacement per day. For context, to get the recommended amount of calories per day, an average woman would have to eat five Huel portions, the ASA added.
Huel said [via the BBC] that its £50 claim was made on the basis of having 34 Huel meals per month, at a cost of £1.51 per meal. This was mentioned in text at the bottom of the ad but was confusing according to the watchdog.
“The ads were seen at a time of worsening financial crisis, during which increasing energy and food costs, as well as rising inflation, were having a significant impact on people in the UK," the ASA said in response to the banned adverts.
A Huel spokesperson told Cosmopolitan UK: “We take our responsibilities under the CAP code seriously and when brought to our attention we pulled the ads and removed the article from our website.
“Since day one, Huel's mission has been to make nutritionally complete, convenient and affordable food and we will continue to do so.”
The ASA also added that Huel claimed to be a "healthy option" without backing that up too. Huel responded that it didn’t believe the adverts were misleading, but "regretted any confusion that may have been perceived by their ads”.
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