The advertisement, created by Publicis, shows a football team manager berating his team of young children after a poor performance. He shows the team some goal scoring techniques by putting Mini Jaffa Cakes in his mouth, one by one, with the children looking on. He then looks at the team and says: "Stop dribbling, Bradley," and the camera focuses on a boy who is fatter than the others, wiping his mouth.
The ITC received four complaints from the public about the ad. They complained that the ad was mocking and unfair in its portrayal of fat children as being desperate for food and unable to control their food urges.
The ad agency argued that the group of children was a realistic mix of shapes of sizes, as found in a football team, and that Bradley was chosen not because he was fat, but because "he had a particularly cute and memorable face".
It also said that the word "dribbling" was a play on words, referring to football terminology and Bradley's playing ability.
While the ITC accepted that the ad was not intended to be offensive, it said that the ad did single out the fat child in a manner that was negative. This broke the code's guidance on the harm that can be caused by stereotyping.
It argued that, given that overweight children are known to experience verbal or physical abuse in everyday life, possibly with long-lasting psychological effects, the ad had potential for harm and should be withdrawn from submission.
The issue of advertising featuring and aimed at children is traditionally emotional. In 2000, an ad for Tango that featured a child being bullied by a group of Tango drinkers was banned by the ITC after receiving 60 complaints. The watchdog was prompted to change its guidance to include bullying in August 2002.
It is the second time that the current "deliciously self-centred" campaign has got Jaffa Cakes in trouble. In March, the Alzheimer's Disease International charity complained that one of its ads was "socially irresponsible", after it showed an old man searching for his false teeth.
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