The UK advertising regulator has banned promotional ads for Zoe Health and Huel for featuring Steven Bartlett without disclosing his commercial interest in the companies.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that a paid-for Facebook ad for Zoe, a nutrition and wellness startup, from February this year could be considered “misleading” by including an endorsement from investor Bartlett.
Known for his role in Dragon’s Den as well as the popular Diary of a CEO podcast, Bartlett featured in the Zoe advert wearing a patch featuring the company’s branding.
The image featured overlain text reading: “If you haven’t tried Zoe yet, give it a shot. It might just change your life” with Bartlett’s name below.
Similarly, a Huel ad featured Bartlett claiming the product being advertised was “the best product that Huel have released”.
The ASA said it received complaints that the adverts used Bartlett’s celebrity status without clearly disclosing that he is an investor in the Zoe via his Flight Fund and a director at Huel.
The regulator upheld the complaints, stating that the Cap Code – a rule book for non-broadcast advertising – does not allow firms to “mislead the consumer by omitting material information, which was information that the consumer needed to make informed decisions in relation to a product”.
A spokesperson for Zoe said the ad was labelled “clearly” as “sponsored” and was “obviously identifiable as a marketing communication”.
The spokesperson said UK advertising rules do not “suggest that it is necessary to go into granular detail about the precise nature of an ambassador’s commercial relationship with a brand”.
“We respect the ASA’s work in upholding transparency in online advertising and have provided a written assurance that it will not appear again in that form. We would welcome further guidance to bring clarity on the effect of this decision, to ensure that all our future advertising complies with the Cap Code,” the spokesperson said.
Huel argued that in the context of an advert, consumers typically understand there is a commercial relationship involved in celebrity endorsements.
Zoe, which last month closed a $15m (£11.7m) Series B extension, received £2m from Bartlett’s Flight Fund in 2023.
UKTN has contacted Steven Bartlett via his Flight Fund for comment.