ASA rules Red Tractor ad is misleading

A TV ad for the Red Tractor Scheme (a standards scheme for food and drink products) has been ruled by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) as being misleading. The ad included a voice-over “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 our standards are met. When the Red Tractor’s there, your food’s farmed with care”. The ad concluded with an image of the Red Tractor Logo.

A complaint was made alleging that the ad exaggerated the benefits of the Red Tractor endorsement because some environmental standards relating to pollution on Red Tractor assured farms were not met. Red Tractor provided a substantial response with various points supporting its claims.

The ASA ultimately ruled that Red Tractor failed to provide sufficient evidence that its farms met basic environmental laws and has a good environmental outcome to substantiate the claims in the ad. The ASA’s starting point was to assess how the average consumer, who was reasonably well-informed and reasonably observant, was likely to view the add.