Supermarket giant Tesco has had one of its TV adverts taken off air by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for misleading consumers.
The commercial for the retailer’s own-brand Butcher’s Choice Sausages showed pigs roaming in a field and walking freely in a barn.
However, the ASA stepped in after four viewers complained because they believed the pigs used for the sausages were bred both indoors and outdoors, with movement restricted.
It said: “We noted that the pigs were shown wandering unrestricted outside and, within the indoor barn scene, the barn door was shown to be open and the pigs’ movement unrestricted.”
“In that context, we considered that consumers were likely to interpret the ad meant pigs used to make the Butcher’s Choice sausages were reared in an unrestricted environment and had access to outdoor pasture. Since we understood that that was not the case, we concluded that the ad was misleading.”
The watchdog ruled that the ad was in breach of its code and instructed Tesco to not broadcast the advert again.
A spokesman for Tesco said a combination of standard trim and outdoor-bred trim had been used to produce the bangers and that the pigs had been reared to Red Tractor standards, meeting nationally agreed levels of welfare.
He added that the supermarket was “baffled” by the ruling given that the farmer who appeared in the advert is a Tesco supplier and produces some of the pork featured.
A spokesman for the retailer said: “We genuinely don’t see how the ASA can say an ad showing a genuine Tesco farmer can be misleading.”
