This is one for all of the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) fans out there.

McCain Foods has been forced to recall ads claiming that they make “SA’s No.1 Chips”.

Firstly, we know that’s not true. Their chips are okay, but they’re not groundbreaking.

Secondly – and this is a big one – should we care?

The short answer is no.

The people who did care are Steers’ parent company Famous Brands, who brought the matter to the attention of the ARB.

Here’s Business Insider:

The ARB found that the claim was too ambiguous for consumers, as it wasn’t clear whether it referred to the best quality chips, or was measured in sales.

Famous Brands contended that Steers chips had won the Leisure Options Award for the Best Chips for 16 years running. It challenged McCain to prove that its Fry Chips is “SA’s Number 1 Chip” based on quality.

The ARB found that while McCain Fry Chips has the highest sales when compared to other chip brands in SA, this message wasn’t conveyed in the ads.

“The claim on the billboard could be interpreted to refer to consumer preference rather than market share,” ARB found.

“The fact that the claim itself is not qualified with, for example, the word “frozen”, or with a legible disclaimer to that effect, and the fact that there is a large picture of a hot, cooked chip in the advertising, means that there is a real likelihood that consumers will interpret the claim to mean that McCain’s “Slap Chips”, or its “Fry Chips” (depending on which advertisement you are looking at), is the “No.1” chip in South Africa overall.”

McCain has been ordered to remove the advertising immediately.

Another of the world’s great injustices righted.

We’ll all sleep well tonight.

By the way, for a comparison of SA’s best fast-food chips, head over here.

[source:businessinsider]