Size matters in U.K. ban on KFC sandwich ad

A television ad for KFC was banned by Britain’s advertising watchdog because it said the fast food chain misled customers into thinking its mini chicken sandwiches were larger than they really are.

The Advertising Standards Authority said on Wednesday that after it bought three mini chicken fillet burgers from a London KFC it agreed with five complaints about the advert -- which included a close-up of a burger in a woman’s hands.

“We believed the visuals were likely to mislead viewers over the actual size,” the agency said.

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“We noted that the bun shown in the advertisement was significantly thicker than the burgers we purchased; that there was more filling and the lettuce was a different type,” it added.

The ASA ordered that the ad, created by London-based agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty, not be shown again in its existing form. The firm is minority owned by French group Publicis.

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KFC, owned by Yum Brands, argued that the woman in the ad simply may have had small hands, although it said the actress was not cast for that reason. The chain also said the burger’s name and price -- 99 pence ($1.86) -- implied that it was smaller than a normal fillet burger.

The ASA said it did not think that was sufficient to alert consumers that the sandwich was smaller than it appeared.