McDonald's Fruitizz kids' drink ad escapes ban

By Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith, campaignlive.co.uk, Wednesday, 12 September 2012 08:30AM

The ad watchdog has rejected two complaints that ads for McDonald's new Fruitizz children's drink misleadingly claimed it provides one of the Department of Health's recommended five fruit and vegetable portions per day.

McDonald's: Fruitizz ad escapes ban

The campaign, consisting of a TV ad and a digital banner ad appearing on the Mumsnet site, featured images of children playing with fruit-shaped bubbles.

The voiceover stated: "Grape, apple, and raspberry juice with refreshing sparkling water. Fruitizz is full of fruity bubbles with no added sugar, artificial colours or flavours. And, it’s one of your child’s five-a-day."

On-screen text stated: "one of your five-a-day based on approximately 150ml fruit juice per 250ml serving."

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received two complaints that the "one of your five-a-day" claims were misleading and challenged whether they could be substantiated.

McDonald’s said its Fruitizz product contains 62% fruit juice, which equates to 155ml of fruit juice, sitting just above the Government’s 5-a-day guidelines that states "one medium (150ml) glass of unsweetened 100% fruit juice can count as one portion".

The ASA noted that the product adhered to the Department of Health’s five-a-day guidelines and does not use added sugar in the drink, and McDonald's was clear about the basis of its five-a-day claim. The ad has not been banned.

McDonald's introduced Fruitizz in May and last month dropped Innocent Smoothies from its menus after its five-year-trial failed to gain traction with customers.

This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk