Huel ad banned for suggesting its products could replace all conventional food
The UK Advertising Standards Authority has banned a Huel advertisement featuring Spencer Matthews for implying that the meal replacement product could serve as a total food substitute. The regulator expressed concern that the ad promoted irresponsible dietary practices.
Why it matters
This highlights the regulatory scrutiny applied to health and wellness marketing, particularly regarding claims of nutritional completeness.
Image source, Bloomberg / Getty Images Image caption, Huel is best known for its shakes, which it says are a nutritionally complete meal
An advert for Huel meal replacement shakes has been banned by the advertising watchdog for encouraging or condoning "irresponsible" dietary practices.
The ad featured Huel brand ambassador Spencer Matthews sharing an anecdote of a person he met who "only eats Huel" and who won a 260km race "by miles".
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that viewers could assume from the ad that replacing all conventional food with Huel was "nutritionally appropriate" and was compatible with elite physical performance.
Huel said Matthews' anecdote was not "a recommendation or instruction" and the purpose of the ad was to challenge the misconception that Huel could replace every meal".
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