[imagesource: Jonathan Colon]

Steers one, Burger King zero.

I’m sure the battle isn’t over, but there’s no denying that the latest ruling from the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) hands this round to Steers.

This story centres on a Burger King TV ad that depicts the patties being cooked on a grill above open flames, with Steers raising the issue that Burger King is pulling your leg with that one.

It’s fast food, so everything should be taken with a pinch of salt (and some MSG), but here we go.

Business Insider SA reports:

In a ruling published on the weekend the ARB banned a Burger King television advertisement that shows burger patties on a grill above open flames, as part of a sequence that shows burgers being prepared – after competitor Steers complained about it.

Steers told the regulator that it really does grill its beef burgers over open flames, and this sets it apart from many other fast-food outlets – including Burger King.

Steers also complained that while the Burger King ad showed fresh onions and tomatoes being sliced just before the Burger King hamburger is put together, it believed Burger King actually used pre-prepared vegetables delivered to its restaurants already cut.

Wow, Steers even went after the veggies shown in the advert. That’s ruthless.

At least Burger King won that battle within a battle, because the ARB ruled that the company does, in fact, prepare the veggies fresh each morning.

Or rather, that Steers couldn’t definitively prove otherwise.

The open flames explanation was quickly shot down:

Burger King, the regulator said, explained that it cooks its patties using a broiler that “consists of a ladder-type conveyor chain that transports patties over open flame gas burners”…

Because the meat is exposed to flame, the burger patties have the same look, texture, and flavour as other flame-grilled meat, Burger King had argued.

But the ARB was having none of it.

“The take-out of the commercial by the hypothetical reasonable consumer is clearly that the patties are ‘braaied’ or grilled above an open flame,” it said.

The ruling means that all ARB members can no longer run the advert.

I’ve popped past the Steers South Africa Twitter account and I see no gloating. If this was Nando’s, you know there would be some serious jibes flying around.

You have to milk your wins where you can. Then again, perhaps Steers has a skeleton or two in the closet.

The battle rages on.

[source:businsidersa]