Lidl / FNLI: also tasty

“Mmm, tasty. Mmm, also tasty.” Lidl is allowed to advertise its products in this way in its campaign “Waar kies jij voor?” (What do you choose?), so the Advertising Code Committee (ACC) decided on 7 March 2016. In the campaign, Lidl compared a number of private label products with premium brand products. The products were shown alongside each other and prices were clearly depicted. The television and radio commercials featured test persons who called the premium brand products “tasty” and the Lidl products “also tasty”. FNLI, the Dutch branche organisation for the food industry, filed a complaint with the ACC, arguing that Lidl claimed that its private label products would be just as tasty or even just as good as the premium brand products. Lidl had performed a market research on taste, but that could not substantiate that claim, according to FNLI. Lidl argued that it compared prices, but not taste. The RCC agrees with Lidl. The Lidl products are called “also tasty” in the ads, but Lidl does not claim that its products are “just as tasty” as the premium brand products, linguistically and considering the casual manner with which the qualification “also tasty” is given. The average consumer will interpret the ads as a recommendation of Lidl’s products because they are cheaper, while the products may also be tasty. Ads on Lidl’s website did feature a taste comparison; the ads referred to “an independent taste test” and contained evaluation grades. Because the grades differed, Lidl does not claim that its products are “just as tasty”. The taste test underpins the online ads, so they are fine as well. Sweet victory for Lidl.

Lidl was represented by Ebba Hoogenraad and Daniël Haije in the ACC proceedings