A McDonalds voucher has been discontinued for supplying Happy Meals to children, breaching the AANA Food and Beverages Advertising Code (the Food Code).
The 'Player of the Week' voucher, according to the Code, can only be distributed to a child over 15 years old because 'occasional food or beverage products' should not be given to children as awards or prizes.
But the voucher was given to a large group of under 15 year olds.
As a result, the ad breached section 3.4 of the the Food Code because, in theory, the advertiser gave children awards or prizes that can be used for occasional food or beverage products.
The complaint submitted to Ad Standards raised concerns of the vouchers distribution.
"The Player of the Match Free Happy Meal Vouchers were given to all Mini Roo and Junior League players, who are all under 12 years old," the complaint said.
"The voucher notes 'must not be distributed to or redeemed by a child under 15 years', to cover their Food and Beverage Advertising Code rules, but they were supplied to a Soccer Club - TAS United Football Club Toowoomba - that has 95% of their players under 12 years old. McDonalds supplied them to hand out to all players."
In response McDonalds refuted that its voucher breaches the code for the following reasons:
"The voucher contains a clear disclaimer which means the Voucher is not for Children (as defined in the Code)," a McDonalds spokesperson said.
"The voucher does not contain cartoon imagery or language which directed to Children, so it is also clear that the Voucher is not intended for Children.
"McDonald’s itself did not distribute the voucher, it was provided to thirdparty sports clubs as part of our association with them with. It is at the discretion of the third-party sports clubs to distribute the vouchers amongst players, which include adult Men and Women’s leagues.
"Our restaurant staff only allows wholemeal chicken snack wrap, apple slices and Pop Tops water to be redeemed via the Voucher. This Happy Meal bundle complies with the Food Standards Australia Nutrient Profile Scoring Criterion."
However, the Ad Standards panel disagreed as McDonald's had control over what was being promoted on the voucher and which clubs the voucher would be given to.
"While it may not have been McDonald's intent for the voucher to be distributed to under 15-year-olds, the combination of the club's members age and the promotion of a Happy Meal on the voucher meant that it was highly likely this voucher would be given to people under 15," the panel found.
The panel also found the 'healthier choice' Happy Meal was not be well advertised.
"The Panel considered that the disclaimer was not enough to prevent this voucher from being distributed to children. If the voucher was specifically for the healthier choice option, and this was communicated with a statement such as, 'Can only be redeemed for pictured meal', then the provisions of this code would not apply and the voucher could be distributed to children," the panel found.
Overall, these elements combined meant that the voucher for occasional food or beverage products was given to a child and the ad was in breach of Section 3.4 of the Food Code.
McDonalds has discontinued the voucher.
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