The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned two ads from Burger King after its plant-based burger, the Rebel Whopper, was found to be unsuitable for vegans and vegetarians.

The complaints surrounding the ads come after it was revealed that the burger was cooked alongside other meat products and contained an egg-based mayonnaise and was therefore unsuitable for vegans and vegetarians.

Despite Burger King saying that the small print at the bottom of the ads stated that the Rebel Whopper may not be suitable for vegans or vegetarians, the ASA upheld the complaints and ruled that they must not appear again in their current form.

“Because the overall impression of the ads was that the burger was suitable for vegans and vegetarians when in fact it was not, we concluded that the ads were misleading.”

In its assessment, the ASA said: “The ASA considered that consumers would understand the claims “100% WHOPPER. NO BEEF” and in particular the claim “plant-based burger” to mean that the burger did not contain any beef or animal products.

“We considered that the presence of the “Vegetarian Butcher” logo, the green colour palette and 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 vegetarians. However, we understood that although the patty itself was plant-based, it was cooked on the same grill as meat products.

“We also understood that the complete burger contained egg-based mayonnaise. For those reasons the burger as-sold was not suitable for vegans or vegetarians. While we noted ad (b) featured the qualification that it was “cooked alongside meat products” we considered it was not sufficiently prominent to override the overall impression that the burger was suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

“Because the overall impression of the ads was that the burger was suitable for vegans and vegetarians when in fact it was not, we concluded that the ads were misleading.”