Kellogg’s Misleading Special K Advertisement
The increasing globalisation and competition have left companies across all industries with fewer choices but exploit various brand awareness strategies through marketing. Advertisement message is one of the growing methods of creating brand awareness among competitors to their consumers. Ads help introduce a business, build a position of the company in the market and promote products. Businesses access the target audient through media like radio, television, and digital and print, which have increasingly become outlets for advertisers. Television, radio, and print are traditional channels while digital media captures online advertising platforms. However, regardless of the means chosen by the company to reach its target market, it is vital that the message conveyed is not deceptive for the good of the national interest. Utilising messages meant to take advantage of the vulnerable and innocent consumers for the benefit of the company is considered unethical, and it can lead to a lawsuit or even the national government banning of the product from the market. Kellogg’s Special K ads came in the limelight due to its attempt to deceive consumers. However, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned the ad shortly after part of some consumers complained about its validity.
Kellogg's Special K TV Ad
Kellogg launched the Special K ad on television implying that the cereal product could improve the health of the expectant mothers and their baby's development. Leo Burnett created the TV ad and mainly featured a swimming pregnant woman accompanied by the message, “made with Folic Acid feeding development.” The ad claimed that the Special K cereal had folic acid as one of its components, which contributes to maternal tissue growth during pregnancy. However, the elite group of consumers filed a complaint to ASA, challenging the claim that the company’s Special K contained folic acid. The complaint also alleged that Kellogg failed to conform to the health claim regulation as outlined in the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) code.
In its defence, Kellogg argued that since the majority of people use cereals in their breakfast daily, then the product could be a vital source of folic acid among childbearing women. The company also argued that between 9 and 11% of daily folic acid intake form women 19-64 old comes from cereals. ASA accepted the claims by Kellogg that folic acid is widely considered as a supplement for maternal tissue growth. However, the agency felt that with the visuals used, the connection of the neural tube defects (NTDs) and pregnancy was strong. Consequently, the ASA banned the ad for making exaggerated health benefit claims.
Forms of Media
Kellogg’s Special K ad appeared on television in 2018, and its visuals contained a pregnant woman swimming. The ad was accompanied by a message that read “made with Folic Acid feeding development.” The ad implied that the cereal was ‘nutritious’ and ‘full of goodness’ when used for making porridge. The product is aimed at promoting its sales among women and their developing children as the main audience. It is arguably correct that when the food giant Kellogg claimed that the product is good for tissue building as it is the case for cereals. However, the TV ad failed to substantiate the health claims supported with specific health benefits as required by the ASA. The ASA believes that food constitutes a few of the most sensitive products presented to consumers, making ad messages accompanying them important to contain scientifically-proven claims. It is necessary to ensure that unscrupulous vendors do not exploit innocent consumers. For instance, while the company said that the Special K contained vitamin B, which is considered good for skin, the agency did not see how this was connected with the ‘good of goodness’ assertions. However, the ad had attracted multiple consumers for a short time it ran on TV and before its ban.
Affect and Effect of the Special K Ad
When companies design production ads for the new products do it with specific ends. The common one is attracting a large pool of consumers and making them believe that they will enjoy the overall benefits. To achieve this objective, the message that accompanies the visual content must display the overall intention of the ad. According to Geuens, De Pelsmacker and Faseur ads for new products primarily aim to impart an emotional connection with the consumers. Therefore, apart from creating brand awareness and knowledge regarding the newly developed products, ads aim to promote a psychological association among users. Besides, companies design ads in a manner that could help them make high profits from the new products. Kellogg’s Special K ad achieved these objectives in a big way had the elite portion of the consumers raised a concern regarding the evidence that could manifest in the Special K ad.
Women, especially expectant mothers, understand that relying on a balanced diet is crucial for their health and well-being. However, quite often than not, they are not sure how nutrition affects them. The Special K advert took advantage of this gap to attract this audience. It was designed with nutrients that are essential for the well-being of women in mind. The breakfast cereal contained folate that contributes to maternal tissue growth throughout the pregnancy period. Besides, cereal’s iron content contributes to fatigue and tiredness reduction. In a nutshell, Special K aimed to increase awareness of the benefits expectant mothers would obtain from the product. It also aimed to give individuals aware of the need of good health but did not have an alternative at hand a better choice.
Kellogg’s Special K advert had identifiable effects both on the consumers and the company itself. Firstly, the ad created increased awareness of the product. Many consumers became aware of the product as indicated by the piling complaints at the ASA. It is believed that the ad attracted the attention of the consumers, which led to some of them questioning the need for the company to substantiate health claims made in the ad. Secondly, the advert created a positive association with the health implications among pregnant women despite the need of the scientist proof. However, the decision by ASA to ban the ad must have pushed a significant number of consumers away since it might have seemed necessary. The elite part of consumers, notably those who filed a complaint, must have developed a reason not to use Kellogg’s breakfast cereal due to the failure of establishing a backup for the claims made in the ad.
Consequently, this changed the audience’s view of Kellogg’s breakfast cereal in multiple ways. Part of some consumers was made to believe that Special K was nutritious as claimed by the company’s ad due to its content, making it suitable for their health. Perhaps, the product presented itself as the best alternative for those concerned about the health but did not have an option at hand. It is public knowledge that ads aim to introduce a new product to the target audience or market. They also seek to increase brand awareness with the bottom line of expanding the profit margin of a company. Kellogg’s Special K won the majority of expectant mothers who saw the product as good for their health and the development of the unborn children.
However, Kellogg’s Special K faced rejections as it failed to observe the country’s culture of substantiating the claims made in the ad. The fact that part of the consumers launched their complaints regarding the dissatisfaction of the “nutritious” and “full of goodness” claims of the ad. The culture of the UK supports the need of backing assertions made in a product advert with specific evidence concerning the health benefits if the ad seeks to promote a specific type of food. The ASA responded by banning the advertisement as it failed to conform to its rules. The ban could be translated to have changed the psychological connection of the product with health benefits among expected mothers. Despite the development of emotional attachment of the production with the users, the ban must have changed their perception about the overall benefit they would obtain from Special K. Hence, there was an expected withdrawal of the consumers from the use of Special K.
Replication of Unsubstantiated Health Benefits of Product Ads
Kellogg’s product ads have had a history of falling foul of ASA. For instance, in 2016, it came into the agency’s attention for a TV ad that implied that its cereal product was ‘nutritious.’ The ad again failed to provide adequate information substantiating the health claims of the brand it promoted. The advertisement issue comes only after two years of similar allegations. The ASA in 2014 had received 15 complaints of the Special K Multi-Grain Porridge ad that Kellogg had designed. The ad claimed that its product gave 30% less fat compared to other porridge products from competing firms. These instances prove that Kellogg and other companies may continue to design product ads with unsubstantiated health claims.
However, the ASA is always on the ground to ensure that the culture of providing evidence for health claims companies make on their product ads lasts. The ASA is an independent advertising regulator instituted by the UK as a watchdog of ensuring that UK media stick to the rules of advertising. The body responds to the concerns and complaints the consumers and businesses file regarding ads that could be perceived as misleading, offensive, or harmful. Besides, the agency monitors ads to check if they are following the Advertisement Codes. However, the ASA does not sideline any ad without performing research to test public opinion and isolate areas that need action to protect consumers. The process is continuous, and the fact that the ASA has banned Kellogg’s product ads in 2014, 2016 and recently in 2018 proves that the agency replicates its processes.
As to whether designing product ads with health claims that are unsubstantial will be replicated or not, the answer is yes. In the same note, the ASA is consistent with its processes of collecting consumers’ views regarding the harm of products, performing research and consequently banning misleading ads. The ban of the Kellogg’s TV ads in 2014, 2016, and 2018 demonstrates that companies can consistently produce product ads with health claims without evidence. The ASA’s ban of these ads also illustrates the replication of processes that aim to validate the health implications of the products presented to consumers to protect their health. In a nutshell, the design of product ads that do not offer evidence-based health claims and the ban of such ads can be replicated.
Theoretical Perspectives
Although significant research exists on the consumer's ability in the processing of nutrition advertisement claims, there is little knowledge regarding their capacity in interpreting nutrient content claims. The claims are essential as product advertising provide a necessary first step for learning new nutrition message in such ads. However, unlike package claims, nutritional evidence is not often available for consumers during the processing of ad claims. Nutritional information on food ads is an essential source of decision-making regarding purchases and the use of certain products. It makes it necessary to assess the importance of nutritional knowledge of consumers in the face of the widespread use of media ads with health claims. Notably, this is because such ads do not give immediate use of labelled information to influence the purchase decision. It is possible that consumers made purchase decisions when presented with media ads through televisions before they assess the labels. A study by Miller and Cassady observed that consumers with prior knowledge regarding products are more likely to use labelled information more precisely, understand it, and make healthy decisions. The reverse is true for an informed customer base.
The application of hypodermic needle theory and social responsibility theory provides a perfect match of Kellogg’s Special K ad. The hypodermic needle theory is also known as the transmission belt theory or magic bullet theory. It posits that media message is powerful and injects information in the minds of the audience in a similar sense as a bullet acts on a body. The theory assumes powerful media effects insinuating the magic bullet or a hypodermic approach. The popularisation of mass media coupled with a growing advertising industry continues to affect the audience both positively and negatively. The press directly influences the mass as messages injected to them could have the desired response and can cause.
The audience cannot resist the information accessed from media and it such message could cause uniform thinking among the recipients. It is possible to create a fixed mindset, perception, and change of opinions subconsciously. The public is vulnerable when it comes to the use of mass media since the information is often infused. The theory asserts a firm conviction that mass media’s message is powerful and no other media it could be compared to, making the public the most prone if the information is misleading. Although the premises of the theory are not empirically tested, it is believed that external stimuli could influence instincts and reactions. Kellogg’s Special K ad used television media, which many people access daily for news or other programmes of interest. The television ads are designed to regularly intercepts all programmes to ensure they reach a wider audience. Therefore, it is possible that the Special K ad reached many people across the UK, leading to many expectant mothers deciding to use the product. However, the informed customer base raised concerns concerning its health claims resulting in a ban response of the ASA.
Social responsibility theory is also a widely utilised framework in light of the increasing use of media. The theory allows a free press with little or no censorship. However, at the same time, it permits the discussion of the press content by the public. The media is required to accept any obligation due to public interference, professional regulation or both. Therefore, the social responsibility theory gives total freedom to media, but on the other hand, allows external controls. It aims to create a balance between the economy and the social well-being of the members of the community. Firms have the freedom to use media for economic gains but must show an obligation to account for their actions when it comes to the well-being of society.
Kellogg’s Special K ad exploited the freedom of using the press to promote its new porridge product. It designed the advert in a manner that helped in attracting many consumers across the UK. However, due to the freedom that the social responsibility theory, the public accessed a platform of sharing and discussing the validity of the ad. The public demanded answers regarding the proof for health claims of the ad. The ASA responded by investigating the matter, whereby it found the view of folic acid as a better supplement for maternal tissue was a valid one. However, the body felt that the visual content of the ad, the connection of Special K with NTD and pregnancy were strong. Consequently, the ASA banned the ad due to its exaggeration of the health benefits.
A deeper analysis of Kellogg’s Special K ad from the lens of the social responsibility theory provides a match. According to the theory, individuals or organisations have the freedom of using press media for economic benefits. Kellogg used television ads to access a broader customer base. The firm had the freedom of designing the ad in a manner that could influence the purchasing decisions of their customers. In the same vein, the theory allows the public to discuss the merits of the information they access using different media. The theory also provides room for professional regulatory checks. Hence, the filing of the complaints with the ASA was a commendable move according to this theory. Besides, the decision of the ASA to ban the ad for the common good interest of public health was an informed one. All these processes conform to the social theory, making the Special K ad a perfect match with the theory.
Conclusion
The increasing competition in the business realm as rendered it necessary for market players to exploit aggressive strategies of marketing their products. The use of advertisements across a wide range of media is a common one. Kellogg’s Special K ad exploited television channels to influence the purchasing decisions of consumers. However, this faced criticism from professionals who felt that the ad was not substantiated with health proof. The design of many other ads with similar allegations resulting in bans demonstrates a scenario of replication. The hypodermic needle theory and the social responsibility theory are the common theoretical perspectives that provide an in-depth understanding of Kellogg’s Special K ad case.
Reference List
- Geuens, M, De Pelsmacker, P & Faseur, T 2011, “Emotional advertising: Revisiting the role of product category,” Journal of Business Research, vol. 64, no. 4, pp.418-426.
- Miller, L & Cassady, D 2015, “The effects of nutrition knowledge on food label use. A review of the literature,” Appetite, vol. 92, pp.207-216.
- Watson, I 2019, Kellogg's Special K ad banned for folic acid pregnancy claims, The Drum. Available at: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/03/06/kelloggs-special-k-ad-banned-folic-acid-pregnancy-claims [Accessed 29 Apr. 2019].
