'Misleading' Steven Bartlett nutrition adverts banned

Adverts for nutrition products promoted by Diary of a CEO podcaster Steven Bartlett have been banned after a watchdog said they were misleading.

The businessman, who's also one of the dragons on the BBC's Dragon's Den, promoted products for Huel and Zoe without making clear he has business interests in both companies.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the ads, seen on Facebook in February, could be mistaken for an independent review and therefore mislead consumers.

Both Huel and Zoe argued against the ban, saying it would be clear to customers they had a "commercial relationship" with him.

The entrepreneur, who also published a Diary of a CEO book, is an investor in Zoe and a director at Huel.

In the advert for Zoe, a health testing and diet advice company, the 31-year-old is pictured with a patch on his arm alongside a quote saying: "If you haven't tried Zoe yet, give it a shot. It might just change your life".

The ASA says it received two complaints that it wasn't clear from the advert that he had a commercial interest in the company.

In its ruling, it said that the advert could seem like an independent review and knowing he was an investor was key for customers to be able to make an informed decision about the product.

One of the two banned ads for meal supplement company Huel saw the podcaster in a similar situation, pictured drinking one of their products with a quote saying: "This is Huel’s best product".

In the second advert, he was seen in a video saying: "This is the best product that Huel have released".

"We considered that many consumers would interpret the ads as featuring a testimonial from Steven Bartlett about one of Huel’s products," the ASA said in its ruling.

"Because the ads omitted material information about Steven Bartlett’s position as a director at Huel, we concluded they were likely to mislead."

The watchdog said the ads could not appear again in their current form and that both companies must make sure future adverts don't "misleadingly omit" information about commercial relationships.

The regulator also banned an ad for Huel in 2022 on a Diary Of A CEO podcast where the presenter said he'd "become hooked on" a caramel flavour iced coffee drink.

Huel, Zoe and Bartlett have been approached for comment.