Coca-Cola has pulled its Fanta Tastes Like TV ad and app after the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) found it was directed at children.
The campaign included the Fanta Fruit Slam 2 app, in which an animated Fanta Crew catch fruit, ride rollercoasters and land in a pool filled with bubbles.
Marketing soft drink to children is a breach of industry guidelines designed to fight obesity, and also breach Coca-Cola's commitment as a signatory of the Australian Food and Grocery Council's Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative (RCMI) not to directly target children aged under 12.
The ASB found some of the TV ad and app elements of the campaign were primarily directed at children.
The complaint was lodged by the Obesity Policy Coalition (OPC), which noted, among other things, that the app was very basic and designed for children.
Coca-Cola South Pacific said the animated characters were intended to be recognisable to teens as representative of the sub-cultures they encountered at high school.
Coca-Cola said, however, that it was committed to marketing its products responsibly:
“This commitment is articulated in our Responsible Marketing Policy. Specifically, we do not design marketing communications in a way that directly appeals to children under 12, nor do we place advertising in media which has more than a 35 per cent audience composed of children.
“This commitment is also demonstrated by CCSP’s voluntary signature of the AFGC’s RCMI. We are therefore disappointed that the ASB has found that the Fanta Tastes Like television commercial, through its themes, visuals and language, is primarily directed to children.
“This decision is not reflective of our intention. We respect, however, the decision of the ASB and undertake not to broadcast in the TVC in Australia going forward.”
