Deliveroo's latest advert banned by regulator after food delivery service misleads its customers

4 December 2019, 11:58

By Mared Parry

@maredparry

The takeaway couriering app's advertisement was taken off our screens after it was found to be misleading.

Deliveroo's most recent has just been declared misleading and as a result, has been taken off the telly and banned after huge surge in complaints.

The funny clip, which sees a mum walk into her house with a Deliveroo and take out endless different meals from different restaurants in the same bag has been reported over 300 times.

READ MORE: Mum furious after daughter's birthday 'ruined' by £28 Deliveroo order that never turned up

Another advert by the food delivery service, which aired in March, was also banned two months ago, for misleadingly implying the company could deliver to anywhere in the UK.

Barring this latest commercial, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the company was wrong to suggest deliveries could be made from different restaurants in a single delivery without attracting extra charges.

This recent advert was first aired back in September of this year, and the actress calls out the names of the different food outlets that her family has received meals from in her sole delivery.

As this happened, on-screen text stated "geographical restrictions apply" and "separate orders must be made for each restaurant".

In its ruling, the ASA said: "While we acknowledged Deliveroo's willingness to include additional on-screen text to clarify the nature of their service, we considered such text was unlikely to be sufficient to alter the overall impression that their customers could order food from different restaurants to be delivered together.

"Because that was not the case, and because the ad did not state that a delivery charge would be applied to each order from a different restaurant, we concluded it was likely to mislead."

Deliveroo, who removed the advert following the ruling, said it did not make pricing claims and only 0.0006% of those who viewed it complained.

A spokesman from the company said: "For the record, you can't actually dive into your Deliveroo bag, however hungry you are.

"The advert is clearly fantastical in nature, including a woman diving into a Deliveroo bag."

A spokesman from the ASA said it is "unusual" to receive such a high volume of complaints about an advert being misleading, as most are made over offence.