Burger King has been banned from advertising its plant based ‘Rebel Whopper’ as being vegan friendly on the basis that it is cooked in the same grill as meat based burgers and is also dressed with mayonnaise which is made from eggs.

The ruling was made by the British Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) who received numerous complaints about the fast food giants claims that the burger was “100pc Whopper No Beef” and a “plant-based burger”, saying it was not suitable for vegans or vegetarians or those with egg allergies.

In response Burger King stated that the ads explained that the small print at the bottom of the ads stated that the Rebel Whopper may not be suitable for vegans or vegetarians as it was cooked alongside other meat products.

It also added that the information was clearly stated on all social media posts and subsequent customer dialogue and explained that the product itself consisted of a 100pc plant-based patty supplied by the Vegetarian Butcher and had no beef. They added that a customer who did not want mayonnaise could have excluded that from their order.

The ASA upheld the claims on the basis that consumers would understand the claims “100pc WHOPPER. NO BEEF” and in particular the claim “plant-based burger” to mean that the burger did not contain any beef or animal products.

It also said the timing of the ad and product release to coincide with ‘Veganuary’ contributed further to the impression that the product was suitable for vegans and vegetarian and while it understood that the patty itself was plant-based, it was cooked on the same grill as meat products. Although this was advertised it was ruled that it was “not sufficiently prominent to override the overall impression that the burger was suitable for vegetarians and vegans.”

Expand Close Rebel Whopper advert (Burger King/PA) / Facebook

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The ASA ruled that the ads must not appear again in their current form.

Online Editors