The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that an advert from farm assurance scheme Red Tractor must be banned for being “likely to exaggerate the benefits” of Red Tractor endorsement.
The advert for Assured Food Standards’ Red Tractor Scheme was seen on 1st May 2023.
In the advert, a voice-over spoke in rhyme, stating, “Farmed with care, that’s the Red Tractor way. A label to trust, found on food every day. This promise is kept by the checks put in place, to care for our animals with the right food and space. Our cows have a health plan, and a personal vet, from field to store all standards are met. When the Red Tractor’s there, your food’s farmed with care.”
According to a description by ASA, the advert featured an animated sequence of a person pushing a shopping trolley through shop aisles, where a poster with the Red Tractor logo featured the text “certified standards” and “farmed with care” was displayed. The person then moved outside, passing a flock of sheep and a tractor, through the barn of a dairy herd and then back into the food shop.
The advert concluded with the Red Tractor logo, showing the test “certified standards”, surrounded by sausages, broccoli, flour, apples, cheese and chicken, as text stated read “farmed with care”.
Environmental group River Action claimed that the advert exaggerated the benefits of Red Tractor endorsement. The group said that based on reports from the Environment Agency, “some environmental standards relating to pollution on Red Tractor Assured farms were not met”.
ASA said that when claiming “farmed with care” in conjunction with “all our standards are met” in advertising, Red Tractor should make clear exactly what standards it was referring to, and the degree to which they claimed that they were being met.
However, Red Tractor believed that the only way the average consumer would interpret the claims as implied environmental claims was if they spent “significant time on the Red Tractor website and proactively looked for information” on its standards, including how they applied to the environment.
It went on to say that in the context of the ad, it was clear that the claim “all our standards are met” related to Red Tractor’s own standards, with no reference to legal standards and no reference to environmental law.
Jim Moseley, CEO of Red Tractor, commented: “The ASA has been considering this complaint for over two years, during which time they’ve flipped from not upholding to upholding.
“We believe the ASA’s final decision is fundamentally flawed and misinterprets the content of our advert. If the advert was clearly misleading, it wouldn’t have taken so long to reach this conclusion. Accordingly, the ASA’s actions are minimal. They’ve confirmed that we can continue to use ‘Farmed with Care’ but simply need to provide more information on the specific standards being referred to, such as a link to our website.”
“While we fully respect the ASA’s role, we are concerned about the process they’ve followed.”
Jim Moseley, Red Tractor
Moseley continued: “The advert, which is now almost five years old, was last broadcast in 2023 and focused on Red Tractor’s standards for traceability, food safety and animal welfare. It made no environmental claim, and we completely disagree with the assumption that it would have been misinterpreted by consumers.
“While we fully respect the ASA’s role, we are concerned about the process they’ve followed. First, rather than use the accepted ‘average consumer test’ the ASA has used their own judgement that a ‘minority of informed consumers’ may misinterpret the advert. We believe this is an error in law and certainly a departure from normal practice.
“Second, we’re concerned that the use of pastoral imagery (in CGI) in conjunction with messages about responsible farming, is treated as an implicit environmental claim. Both concerns could have serious implications for other advertisers, particularly in the field of food and farming.”
The British Retail Consortium highlighted that retailers “remain committed to working with Red Tractor”, and Red Tractor stated that its new advert had been “thoroughly vetted” to ensure no implied claims.
