Farmers challenge Tesco 'Localchoice' milk ads

LONDON - Tesco has escaped censure by the advertising watchdog over its Localchoice milk ad campaign, starring Martin Clunes and Fay Ripley, after viewers questioned whether the produce was local and whether farmers were really given a 'better price'.

A TV ad and a national press campaign for Tesco's Localchoice milk, created by Red Brick Road, received nine complaints covering three issues.

Four of the complainants were practising or retired dairy farmers who claimed that the ads were misleading because the number of farms involved in the scheme was small and the "better price" was only marginally better.

The TV campaign featured campers Clunes and Ripley in the countryside, with Clunes announcing that he was going to "find us a cow and get some milk for breakfast". He reluctantly looks at some cows before walking into a Tesco store where he buys Localchoice milk and pours it into a bucket.

One complainant challenged the description of the product as "local" in the TV ad because he believed in some counties the milk was not processed and bottled in the local area. Two complainants challenged the TV ad's claims because they believed farms which produced the Localchoice milk could be up to 70 miles away from a Tesco store.

The voiceover said: "Now there's an easy way to help support small dairy farms in your region. New Localchoice milk from Tesco. It guarantees Localchoice farmers a better price."

Tesco defended the ad saying that the Localchoice scheme was part of a £25m annual investment it had recently made to support UK dairy farmers. It also said that Localchoice milk was sourced from small, family-run farms and sold at their stores in or close to that farm's county.

The Advertising Standards Authority rejected the complaints and concluded that no further action was required.

In a separate adjudication, an ad for the CD Clubland 11 was banned by the ASA because it encouraged excessive drinking and promiscuity among young people.

The ad, created by Enginecreative, received a single complaint from a viewer who thought that it was potentially harmful because it could encourage promiscuity among young people. The ASA also raised concerns that the ad encouraged immoderate drinking by linking alcohol with sexual activity and success.

The ad showed images of night clubs and beach scenes interspersed with holidaymakers talking directly to camera in the Clubland camper van. One young woman said: "Morning, woke up, did not have a clue what his name was." A young man said: "I've been here six weeks and I've been with 39 girls and she's the 40th."

The ASA told Universal Music not to repeat the ad.