Morrisons ad banned for targeting kids

A Morrisons TV ad has been banned after complaints that it aimed to get children to pester their parents to shop at the supermarket chain to win a holiday to Disneyland.



Morrisons' "Disney Magical Moments" TV campaign showed a series of unhappy children who only cheered up when a trip to the supermarket to get trading cards was offered.

A shot in-store showed children opening packs of cards in an attempt to find a gold card and potentially win a trip to Disneyland Paris.

The Advertising Standards Authority received three complaints that the ad was irresponsible as it was targeting children and encouraging them to hunt out Walt Disney cards to win a holiday.

Morrisons rejected the allegations, stating that the ad did not target kids and ran during school term time when children should not have seen it, and on the weekend the "vast majority" of airings were "between programmes intended for adults".

Clearcast, the body responsible for vetting ads before they run on TV, said the ad showed "showed parents cheering up their children by taking them on the weekly shopping trip".

The ASA rejected Morrisons' claim, pointing out that the ad was scheduled to run on several children's TV channels. The watchdog said the collectable cards and the enticement of a trip would "hold a strong appeal amongst children".



Images such as children eagerly grabbing the packet from their parents, looking overjoyed at winning and pestering a parent to get up early to go to Morrisons added to the impression.

"In that context, we considered that the ad depicted the opportunity to collect Disney cards and to win a trip to Disneyland Paris as something that would be highly desirable to children," the ASA. "We were therefore concerned that the ad could encourage children to ask their parents or guardians to visit Morrisons in order to obtain the Disney cards and the chance to win a holiday to Disneyland Paris."

The ASA banned the ad for breaching the advertising code in relation to responsible marketing and targeting children.