Who: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Hovis Ltd t/a Hovis
Where: United Kingdom
When: 28 February 2024
Law stated as at: 8 March 2024
What happened:
The ASA has examined a complaint made by the Real Bread Campaign against Hovis, alleging that Hovis’ ad claims for their rustic white bloomer, rustic granary bloomer, and rustic seeded bloomer were misleading and lacked substantiation.
The Real Bread Campaign challenged three specific claims made by Hovis: the terms “rustic”, “authentic” and “traditional” were used to describe the breads; “artisanal-inspired bread” was used in a social media post; and “no artificial preservatives” was on the product ads.
Substantiation of claims
The ASA did not uphold any of the complaints.
Hovis successfully defended all three of their claims, arguing they were not misleading and provided detailed explanations for each point raised by the complainant.
‘Rustic’, ‘authentic’ and ‘traditional’
The ASA concluded that all three of the claims (“rustic,” “authentic,” and “traditional”) were not misleading partly because they had all been used in a very limited way in the context of the products’ appearance, shape and starter dough and Hovis was able to demonstrate that their processes were significantly different to the industry norm. The ASA also considered it significant that the bread was shown in plastic packaging and the claims were made in the context of an advert for a well known brand of industrially made bread such as Hovis.
For the term “rustic”, the ASA acknowledged Hovis’ arguments that the use of the term was referring to the dictionary definition of “simple and often rough in appearance” and typical of the countryside. Accordingly, the ASA found that this was not misleading as the processes and ingredients used by Hovis were indeed simpler than other mass-produced bread products, and did result in a less uniform appearance.
For the term “authentic”, the ASA noted that the use of this term in the specific contexts were not misleading. For example, when used in the limited context referring to the bloomer shape of the bread this was not misleading as the authentic bloomer shape referred to the fact that it had been baked in a shallow tin (to allow the dough to rise and expand naturally into the bloomer shape) as opposed to a more standard bread tin (which would restrict the natural expansion of dough).
For the term “traditional”, the ASA highlighted that the term was specifically used in reference to the starter dough and being used for its flavour, and that this was not a wider claim that the bread had been made using only traditional processes or ingredients. Due to this limited context, and the fact that consumers would be aware that the product was mass-produced (for example, due to the popularity of Hovis brand and that the products were shown in plastic packaging), the ASA concluded the claim was not misleading.
‘Artisanal-inspired bread’ and ‘artisanal product’
The ASA ruled that the claim of “artisanal-inspired bread” was not misleading, as consumers would understand that the breads were influenced by artisanal methods, taste and shape rather than made using the exact same ingredients and processes as handmade bread. The ASA added that they also understood that the Hovis brand is well known to consumers as a large bread manufacturer and the use of “artisanal-inspired” was in the context of this bread using more traditional methods (for example, not the Chorleywood high-speed mixing process) which made it different to other mass-produced bread products.
‘No artificial preservatives’ not misleading
The ASA ruled that the “no artificial preservatives” claim was not misleading as the bread itself did not contain any preservatives. This was notwithstanding that the product did contain other artificial additives, as the lists of ingredients were presented clearly alongside the claim which made clear that they contained other additives
Why this matters: This ruling demonstrates by way of example that key terms, such as “rustic”, “authentic” and “traditional”, can be used in a limited context in a way which is not misleading. However, caution needs to be used when applying this to advertising for other brands that are less well known or adverts that do not make it clear that the bread is being made on an industrial scale.
