MLC in appeal against ads ban
MLC in appeal against ads ban
MEAT and Livestock Commission officials are appealing against a judgement by advertising watchdogs that ads it ran for British pigmeat were misleading and untruthful.
The Advertising Standards Authority has asked the commission to remove four adverts and take more care not to mislead with future campaigns.
Launched last May, the ads claimed pigmeat carrying the British Quality Standard Mark was more welfare friendly than imported meat. They also highlighted the fact other countries were still allowed to feed meat and bonemeal, banned in UK diets since 1996.
But they angered EU competitors and animal welfare groups, which lodged seven complaints with the ASA. Two were upheld.
The Danish Bacon and Meat Council had objected to an advert featuring a sow suckling piglets with the caption "after shes fed them, she could be fed to them", a reference to feeding meat and bonemeal overseas.
The ASA agreed the headline could not be substantiated. It said the advert "misleadingly exaggerated" the likelihood of a piglet eating feed derived from its mother, which was "minute".
A complaint by welfare groups that three adverts misleadingly implied that "pigs reared under the [Quality Standard] scheme led a freer life than they did" was also upheld by the authority.
In an appeal, the MLC says the decision is "flawed". "The MLC advertisements make very specific claims which are accurate and not misleading," said marketing director, Richard Lowe.
Pigmeat marketing manager, Chris Lukehurst, stood by the campaign. The MLC had not intended to use the banned adverts again, he said. *