Rebel Whopper Advertisements Banned by ASA

Earlier this week I read an article about how Burger King's Rebel Whopper was banned for misleading vegans and vegetarians. The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) forced Burger King to take down their advertisements of their new plant-based whopper in January. The ad was banned because it stated “100% Whopper. No Beef” and had a stamp on the ad that said “Powered by The Vegetarian Butcher.” but in small print informed the viewer that “*Product is cooked alongside meat products”.

                                  

Not only was the Rebel Whopper cooked next to meat products but the mayonnaise used on the product was egg based. Burger King stepped out and claimed that the ads showed that the Rebel Whopper may not be acceptable to vegans or vegetarians due to it being cooked alongside their meat products. In the end, the ASA ruled that the advertisements were misleading to vegans and vegetarians and banned them from advertising again in the same way.

I chose to read this article because I was feeling discouraged and tired of reading about Covid-19 and thought that the title sounded interesting. This new product launch for Burger King was designed to show their customers that they can produce healthier food items and that they are able to make whoppers aimed towards people with certain food restrictions or specific diets. Burger King was told to take down their ads because it was seen as misleading by the ASA and consumers who had seen the ads. Their marketing approach and their product would have been unique and new a few months prior but unfortunately for them, many other fast food companies and businesses in the food industry had already gone vegan/vegetarian with some of their products. For example, McDonald's had released in early January of 2019 their first ever vegetarian happy meal featuring a spicy veggie wrap and Red Robins introduced their plant-based Impossible Whopper in April of 2019.

A few things that the marketing team should have looked at and took into consideration would have been to design their ad in a less deceiving, misleading way. They could have made the disclaimer bigger or decided to designate a small grill specifically for their meatless products. I understand that their advertisement was misleading but I don’t think there’s much they could have done to make their ad better without changing the layout of their businesses or spending a lot of money. I personally think that their marketing technique made sense and I thought that there was not much that they could have done to make the product they were launching much better. With many other businesses doing something similar, I think Burger King probably felt like they had to come out with a vegan or vegetarian food item to gain costumers in a whole new demographic. Overall, this article showed me that it’s hard to please every type of customer and it’s good to look for small details and mistakes in your advertisements before releasing them to the public.