The spot, created by Quiet Storm, showed a man standing at a bus stop eating Mattessons Fridge Raiders intently. In the ad, he is unaware that the mouths of the people around him are morphing to reveal fangs, which they bare at him until he happens to look up.
The ad builds on the "brings out your carnivorous side" strategy devised by Quiet Storm for the packed meat brand, which is owned by Kerry Foods.
When the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre first viewed the script for the ad, it warned the creative could get a post 7.30pm ban if the morphing faces were too scary, but when the final ad was viewed it only got an ex-kids restriction. This prevents it from being shown during programmes aimed at children.
Nonetheless, when the ad was screened 23 viewers complained that their children had been upset. A further 30 said that it should not be screened when children could see it; 11 said it was reminiscent of a horror film; and three said that they were concerned the morphing images could have a bad affect on viewers with psychological illnesses.
Mattessons voluntarily moved the ad to post-7.30pm slots as soon as it was aware of the complaints. The Advertising Standards Authority acknowledged the prompt action, but upheld the complaint, ruling that it could not be broadcast again before 7.30pm.
"Past experience has shown that ads featuring morphing images, particularly of human faces transforming, have a strong potential to upset young children," it said in its ruling.
The other complaints were not upheld.
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