The TV ad, which was created by Leo Burnett, featured women preparing breakfast. A voiceover stated: "We women know how to get the most our of our mornings."
It continued: "Like enjoying a delicious Special K at 114 calories. Because believe it or not, we don't just wake up looking fabulous. Special K, get more delicious every day."
The on-screen text said: "114 Kcals and 0.6g fat per 30g serving. Enjoy as part of a healthy balanced diet & active lifestyle."
The Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) received a complaint that the ad was misleading, as it was unclear whether the 114 calories included milk or not.
Kelloggs defended itself by stating that the ad was open and honest and that the calorie count was for a single 30g portion of the product.
It added that the cereal packet contained nutritional information for a 30g serving of the product, and also contained nutritional information for a suggested serving with 125ml of semi-skinned milk.
To strengthen its argument, Kelloggs said that in the Department of Health profiling scheme and traffic-labelling instructions, their products were judged without milk.
Clearcast – the TV ad vetting body – did not believe the ad was misleading and said the on-screen text qualified that the calorie amount was for a 30g serving of the product.
The advertising watchdog stated that it believed the differing preferences of consumers meant it was most accurate to describe the calorie content for the cereal without milk.
But it noted hat the ad prominently featured milk being poured on the cereal and considered viewers would infer that the women featured eating the cereal were consuming it with milk.
Summing up, the ASA banned Kellogg‘s from running the ad again, stating that "it should have clarified that the calories claim did not include milk and because it did not so, we concluded the ad was misleading".
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