Huel advert banned for ‘encouraging’ replacing all meals with its products

An advert for Huel has been banned by the advertising watchdog for encouraging or condoning the replacement of conventional food with its products.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said this portrayed “irresponsible dietary habits” to consumers.

The ruling followed an investigation into a video advert, which appeared on Instagram and YouTube, featuring TV personality Spencer Matthews.

In the video, Mr Matthews is talking with Huel founder Julian Hearn in the style of a podcast, and recalls meeting someone at an ultramarathon event who said he “only eats Huel”.

The former Made In Chelsea reality star said he was sceptical that the man would “manage the race” – a 260-kilometre run through the Amazon rainforest – but went on to say “he won it by miles” and “left us all in the dirt”.

Mr Hearn then responds by saying: “In an ideal world, you should have nutritionally complete whole food. If you could do that for every meal that would be the best solution for life.

“Most people either don’t do that or can’t have the time to do that, and therefore that’s where Huel fits in the gap.”

He also says earlier in the video that he has Huel for breakfast and lunch during the working week, then a “traditional meal” in the evening and on the weekends.

Huel sells a range of products including powders, shakes, snack bars and drinks, aimed at providing essential nutrients and reducing meal times.

ASA, which received four complaints about the advert, found that it “did not explicitly recommend that consumers replace all conventional food with Huel”.

However, it said that consumers might understand from the ad that while it was unusual to have Huel for every meal, doing so was “nutritionally appropriate and presented no barrier to achieving a high level of physical performance”.

“We considered that message encouraged or condoned irresponsible dietary habits,” ASA said in its ruling.

In its response to the ruling, Huel said the ad was “specifically designed to address that some consumers used Huel as 100% of their diet, and to correct any misconception that was its intended use”.

The company, which is being acquired by consumer goods giant Danone, said Mr Matthews’ reference to the competitor in the ultramarathon was an “anecdote of a one-off incident that was surprising and unusual” and that he reacted with “extreme scepticism and disbelief”.

“At no point in the ads did either speaker suggest that consumers should adopt a 100% Huel diet.”