Just as you’re still processing March 2020, here comes January 2022! For many, the new year brings health-conscious resolutions – gyms, diets, life overhauls, and in recent years, Veganuary. Whilst the popularity of a vegan January might be increasing, there can be a number of potential pitfalls for marketers who are looking to capitalise on this popularity. Read on to make sure you stay green in a world of red lights.
Lettuce start – make sure your products are 100% Vegan
The most obvious point to make clear is that any products sold as “vegan” should in their entirety be edible to those who eat a vegan diet. In April 2020, a burger was released, as the advertiser’s “first plant-based burger” that was, according to their ads, “100% Whopper. No Beef”. However, at the bottom of the ad, as disclaimer “*Product is cooked alongside meat products” appeared, and the product itself came with egg-based mayonnaise. This meant that in its original form, the burger was not suitable for veggies or vegans.
The ASA considered that, as the ads featured a green colour palette, and the product was released to coincide with Veganuary, that it wasn’t clear this product was not suitable for vegetarians/vegans, and therefore the ad was misleading.
If only certain elements of your product are vegan, then we’d suggest labelling only these parts as vegan, rather than the entire item. Furthermore, don’t give the impression that something is plant-based or vegan through other aspects, such as styling, colours or wording if it’s
Needless to soy, get your environment claims in order
Next up, we’ll look at a 2019 ad, which stated “Question. How did Steve impress his mates in Veganuary? Answer. He added a squeeze of lime and fresh coriander to deliciously healthy vegan Quorn pieces and made them a Thai green-with-envy curry. Quorn. Healthy Protein. Healthy Planet”.
Under our environment rules (Section 11), ads must take into consideration the entire life-cycle of the product. So, for example, you can’t claim that the soap you made is ‘environmentally friendly’ if the ingredients were flown in from Asia, or if it’s got tons of one-use plastic packaging (you can read more about lifecycles here). So for this complaint, the ASA needed to look at the “cradle-to-grave” lifecycle of Quorn products.
Quorn provided third party certifications and studies as part of their evidence, and the ASA noted that they had provided data for their carbon footprint, as well as their land and water wastage as compared …….
Source: https://www.asa.org.uk/news/squash-those-code-breaches-it-s-veganuary.html