Advertising watchdog upholds complaints against An Post, Lidl, and Hello Fresh

The watchdog found misleading offer terms from An Post, misleading green claims from Rathwood, and irresponsible AI created content from Molloy’s Liquor stores.

THE ADVERTISING WATCHDOG has upheld nine complaints about recent ads or information posted by businesses or social media accounts, including for An Post, Lidl and Hello Fresh.

The Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) Independent Complaints Council partly upheld another complaint and chose not to uphold three in its latest round of decisions.

Advertisements online, on social media, in-store advertising and print were found to be in breach of the ASA Code.

Upheld cases included misleading offer terms from An Post, misleading green claims from Rathwood, and irresponsible AI created content from Molloy’s Liquor Stores.

Upheld complaints

A brochure for An Post Mobile was considered to be misleading as it did not say that the advertised prices were only available to new customers and not existing ones.

In response, An Post said all of their in-store promotional material, together with their brochures, referenced the terms and conditions.

An Instagram story promoting HelloFresh posted by the influencer @twins_and_me_ was found to be in breach of the ASA Code as the word ‘Ad’ did not have a hashtag and was in white font meaning it was not clearly visible.

HelloFresh did not accept that the story breached the ASA Code and said that in each of the images, the influencer had included the label ‘Ad’, though it was without the hashtag.

Lidl was found to have created a misleading advertisement for a discount on metal shelving that did not specify that the €5 discount was limited to one item per customer.

The advertisers said that the limitation of one discount per customer was clearly stated on the Lidl Plus app listing for the product and that such limitations were standard practice within their industry for promotions, but that it would review future signage.

Ancestry Ireland Unlimited Company, trading as Newspapers.com, was found to be in breach of the standards as an advertisement featuring subscription prices was not inclusive of VAT.

The advertisers said that they took the complaint and their compliance obligations very seriously. They advised that they were working on updates to ensure that their pricing was compliant with the ASA Code.

An advertisement by Bord na Móna which invited users to check whether the company’s waste collection service was available in their area was also found to be in breach.

The complainant said they entered their Eircode and were informed that the service was available. However, when the delivery of bins was attempted, it was found that the address was actually outside the service area, and the advertised service could not be provided.

The advertisers said that while the online address checker may have given an impression of ‘service confirmation’ to a customer, a further manual check may have been required. They said that in light of the complaint they had initiated a review concerning the operation of the online tool.

An advertisement from AJ Sells LTD – Smile Therapy was found to be misleading and unsubstantiated.

The advertisement was a webpage advertising an ‘Ultrasonic Tooth Cleaner’. A slideshow that one could click through made claims about the product, including that it can solve gum disease and could deliver ‘professional-level results from home’. There was also a review which suggested the product would result in less trips to the dentist.

The advertisers said that they had made all the necessary changes to their website to have been compliant with the ASA Code.

An advertisement for Kingsbury Furniture on the Instagram story of @dominiquenugent89 was in breach of the Code, as it had not been clearly identified as advertising material and did not include the word #Ad.

The advertisers said that the influencer was an employee of their family-run business. They believed that the post was never intended to be viewed as advertising but as personal endorsement and opinion.

The influencer’s agency apologised for the omission of ‘#AD’ and said that the influencer understood the importance of transparency and the need to comply with ASA Guidelines.

The ASA found that an advertisement for Molloy’s Liquor Stores, which was written by AI, breached guidelines as it portrayed an alcoholic product as a way of helping with various social interactions and had encouraged excessive consumption of the product.

The advertisers said that as a corrective measure they had removed the complained about advertising and had replaced it with a factual description of the product. They apologised for any ‘unintended impression’ created by the advertising and said that they would introduce internal checks to ensure AI-assisted content is reviewed for compliance before publication.

An advertisement by Rathwood for various firewood products were found to be misleading as they included unsubstantiated claims that the products were “smokeless”, “clean burning”, “carbon neutral” and “eco-friendly”.

The advertisers said that the advertising had been directed at a general consumer audience and that the wording of the advertisements aligned with commonly accepted descriptions of kiln-dried firewood and solid biomass fuels across the Irish and UK markets.

They said that the terms were not intended to suggest absolute scientific claims, rather they were used to reflect well understood comparative qualities of kiln-dried wood compared with untreated firewood or fossil fuel alternatives.

The Council partially upheld a complaint against Arlo Verisure which claimed the Arlo Ultra 2 offered ‘unmatched 4K security’ as it considered that the claim was an implicit comparative claim but the claim was not substantiated.

A response from the advertiser was not shared.

The ASA also received complaints relating to Tony Bet, Skill on Net – Ojo Casino and Cairn Homes, but these were not upheld.

ASA chief executive Orla Twomey said that the authority’s mission is to “protect consumers from advertising that is harmful, misleading, or offensive”.

“Our latest complaints bulletin showcases the wide-ranging ways we uphold honesty, transparency, and integrity across Ireland’s advertising landscape,” Twomey said.