Huel ad banned for suggesting its products could replace all conventional food
The advertising watchdog said that viewers could assume from the ad that replacing all normal food with Huel was "nutritionally appropriate".
Huel ad banned for suggesting its products could replace all conventional food
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 after it was found to encourage or condone "irresponsible" dietary practices.
The ad showed Huel brand ambassador Spencer Matthews recounting a story about someone he met who "only eats Huel" and who won a 260km race "by miles".
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said viewers could take from the ad that replacing all conventional food with Huel was "nutritionally appropriate" and compatible with elite physical performance.
Huel said Matthews' story was not "a recommendation or instruction" and that the ad was intended to challenge the idea that Huel could replace every meal".
The video, which ran as a sponsored Instagram post and a YouTube pre-roll ad, showed Matthews speaking with Huel founder Julian Hearn in a podcast-style format.
The Instagram post carried the caption: "Here's how our founder uses Huel. Spoiler alert it's not for every meal."
In the video, Hearn said he has Huel products for breakfast and lunch during the working week, but eats a "traditional meal" when he gets home.
Matthews then said that while competing in an ultramarathon, he met a man who "only eats Huel".
He said he was initially doubtful the man would be able to complete the race, but then added: "He won it by miles, like literally just left us all in the dirt."
Hearn replied: "In an ideal world, you should have nutritionally complete whole food.
"Most people either don't do that or can't have the time to do that, and therefore that's where Huel fits in the gap."
In the advert Spencer Matthews talks about an athlete who "only eats Huel"
Huel, which is based in Hertfordshire, was founded by Hearn in 2015. It is currently in the process of being bought by French conglomerate Danone.
The market for so-called complete nutrition products, aimed at time-poor, health-conscious consumers, is thought to be worth $5.9bn (£4.4bn).
The ASA received four complaints about the advert, which questioned whether the content was irresponsible. Two complainants also challenged whether the health claims in the ad breached the ASA's advertising code.
The ASA said in its ruling that the ad "did not explicitly recommend that consumers replace all conventional foods with Huel", but that viewers could still interpret the anecdote as "an acceptable dietary practice".
"By presenting exclusive consumption of Huel in that context, the ads suggested that the complete replacement of conventional food with Huel was nutritionally appropriate and presented no barrier to achieving a high level of physical performance," the ruling said.
The ASA also upheld the complaint about the health claims, ruling that Matthews' anecdote about the ultramarathon athlete "implied a beneficial relationship between consuming Huel and the ability to sustain exceptionally high levels of physical and endurance performance".
In its response to the complaints, Huel said the advert "unambiguously positioned Huel as part of a balanced diet for occasions when preparing whole food was not practicable".
The company pointed to Matthews reacting with "extreme scepticism and disbelief" to the idea of someone consuming only Huel.
"The anecdote was recounted as a remarkable and unexpected occurrence, not as a representative outcome or a recommendation or instruction to consumers to replicate.
"At no point in the ads did either speaker suggest that consumers should adopt a 100% Huel diet."
It is not the first time that Huel has run into trouble with the ASA over using its products as a replacement for conventional food.
Some experts have also questioned how effective it is to replace meals with nutritionally rich drinks.
Huel told BBC News that it had complied with the ASA ruling.
"We do not position Huel as a complete diet replacement or claim that it improves athletic performance," a spokesperson said.