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Burger chain Hungry Jacks has admitted that it breached advertising rules by screening ads for high fat food for children, rendering the industry's voluntary code of practice a "failure".
The company re-advertised a chicken nugget meal after an earlier ad for the same food was banned last year because its fat content was too high, The Australian reports.
The decision, which contravenes voluntary rules to which Hungry Jacks is a signatory, undermines the advertising industry's self-regulatory system, which is based on voluntary compliance and does not include penalties for breaches.
It is believed to be the first time a major advertiser has admitted it knowingly breached the voluntary code for business reasons.
Hungry Jacks marketing director Jim Wilson told The Australian the company decided to advertise the meal again because "we had commitments we had to meet contractually".
A source close to the company said the restaurant chain had a contract with the US-based licensor of The Simpsons which specified how and when the children's meal promotion was to be advertised.
Wilson said the company had not had time to create a low-fat children's meal since signing up to new rules governing how quick-service restaurants could advertise their food, but was testing two meals with a lower fat content in Victoria. "Next time it will comply," Wilson said.
Jane Martin, from the Obesity Policy Coalition, which has filed a complaint against the new ad, said the decision showed advertising self-regulation was failing children. "This demonstrates that self-regulation doesn't work: advertisers can choose not to comply if it does not suit, as this case illustrates," she said.
A decision by any advertiser to ignore the rules on advertising food to children is fraught with danger for the industry. A report commissioned by the government last year warned the industry to cut children's exposure to junk food advertising, or risk the government stepping in to legislate against it.
Rising child obesity rates in developed countries are putting increasing pressure on food advertisers not to market unhealthy foods to children.
The Hungry Jacks decision is an embarrassment to the Australian Food and Grocery Council, which pioneered the Responsible Children's Marketing Initiative on which the quick-service code is based. AFGC chief Kate Carnell could not be reached for comment.
