Confectionery startup Monty Bojangles has been cleared of wrongdoing by the advertising regulator over an Easter egg advert earlier this year.
The Advertising Standards Authority received complaints about Monty Bojangles’ Instagram adverts, which featured its chocolate eggs and truffles, in March.
Bite Back, a youth-led movement campaigning for a healthier food system, said the advert was in breach of the UK’s new laws, which place a strict ban on television and online advertisements for foods high in fat, salt, and sugar.
Monty Bojangles argued they were exempt from the restrictions as it was a small-to-medium-sized enterprise (SME). The rules do not apply to companies with fewer than 250 employees.
The ASA rejected Bite Back’s complaint, highlighting Monty Bojangles’ financial accounts, which show the company employed 29 people last year.
It therefore considered “on balance” that Monty Bojangles was a food or drink SME for the purposes of the exemption. “The ad therefore fell outside the scope of the rule and did not breach the code,” the ASA concluded.
The ASA is seeing more complaints for junk food advertising come across its desk. In April, Lidl and Iceland became the first companies to have ads banned after the introduction of the rules.
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