Steven Bartlett’s Huel Ads Banned for Omitting Crucial Information

Two Facebook advertisements for the plant-based food brand Huel, featuring Steven Bartlett from “Diary of a CEO” and “Dragons’ Den,” have been banned by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The watchdog found the ads for Huel’s Daily Greens powder were “likely to mislead” viewers.

Seven people complained to the ASA about the two ads, which were seen in February and March this year. They questioned whether the omission of Bartlett’s commercial interest in the company was misleading, given that he is a director at Huel, according to Companies House.

The February ad featured an image of the Daily Greens product with a quote from Bartlett calling it Huel’s “best product.” The March ad was a video showing Bartlett endorsing the food alongside an actor playing a skeptical potential customer questioning if “Huel is actually nice” because “I keep seeing this guy all over the internet talking about [it].”

Under the code set by the Committee for Advertising Practice (CAP), which the ASA enforces, marketing materials must not materially mislead or be likely to do so. They must also not mislead consumers by omitting material information—the kind of information customers need to make informed decisions about a product.

When approached by the ASA, Huel confirmed that Bartlett was a director and explained that consumers generally understand that when celebrities endorse products, they do so within a commercial relationship context. Huel stated, “Consumers had no doubt about the existence of such commercial relationships when they saw the endorsement within a paid-for ad taken out by a company. This expectation then removed the need for the commercial relationship to be explicitly stated, and this was the case regardless of the exact nature of the relationship.”

Huel also said that Bartlett invested in the company because he liked their products. This investment had been announced on their website and YouTube channel and received media coverage at the time.

Despite these explanations, the two ads were banned from appearing again in their current form. The watchdog stated that Huel needed to ensure future ads did not misleadingly omit material information regarding commercial relationships.

The ASA ruling noted, “We considered that many consumers would interpret the ads as featuring a testimonial from Steven Bartlett about one of Huel’s products. Steven Bartlett held a position as a director at Huel. We acknowledged Huel’s comments and agreed that some consumers might have thought that the ads were part of a commercial relationship with Steven Bartlett. However, many consumers were unlikely to understand from the ads that Steven Bartlett had a financial interest in Huel’s performance. We considered that Bartlett’s directorship was material to consumers’ understanding of the ads, and so relevant for them in making an informed decision about the advertised product. Because the ads omitted material information about Steven Bartlett’s position as a director at Huel, we concluded they were likely to mislead.”

Source: Indy100