An Aldi advert has escaped censure following accusations the retailer claimed its farmed salmon was caught in the wild.

The TV ad, which aired in September 2016, named several products as “amazing” and displayed a scuba diver in the water reading a newspaper with fish swimming around him. The diver said: “How’s this for amazing? Aldi’s Specially Selected Scottish Salmon is RSPCA Assured.”

There were five complaints about the retailer’s advert to the Advertising Standards Authority, including one from Save Our Seals Fund, which accused the advert of misleading its audience by implying that Aldi’s salmon were caught in the wild.

ASA did not uphold the complaints made against the advert for reasons including the advert’s tone; because there were no express claims regarding the provenance of the salmon; and because the fish in the scene were not captured.

Aldi argued in its response that the RSPCA Assured logo made it clear that the salmon were farmed and not caught in the wild, which the ASA agreed with.

“We considered that the overall tone of the ad was humorous and fantastical, and that viewers were likely to understand that the locations and situations featured did not necessarily equate to real-life scenarios,” said the ASA ruling.

Topics