Tunnock’s new advert takes the biscuit – despite not having a single caramel wafer, log or tea cake in sight.
When it comes to this Scottish confectionery brand, what you can’t see may just make you want one of their sweet treats even more.
Tunnock’s, based in Uddingston, Lanarkshire, is famed for its snowballs, tea cakes and caramel logs and wafers, exported around the globe.
But sugary food advertisements have been banned before the TV watershed and online at any time, as part of The UK Government’s public health drive.
The rules – which still permit brand-only advertising – are intended to reduce children’s exposure to advertisements for less healthy foods.
Now Tunnock’s are back with a new advertising campaign highlighting the brand’s “timeless” appeal.
Created by Edinburgh media firm The Lane Agency, the ad features Edinburgh-based actor, Connor McCausland, showcasing a variety of styles across the decades – with only subtle nods to the brand’s iconic colours including red and silver and red and gold.
The voiceover says: “Tastes change, hairstyles come and go, probably for the better. Some things are getting smaller, shrinking. But that’s not our style – we’re just as tasty as we have always been.
“Tunnock’s – timeless tastiness.”
Kevin Hayes, Tunnock’s export boss, said: “We have to be up to date with regulations and aware of the details about responsible advertising, and this forced us to get creative on this latest TV advert.
“Working with the creative team at Lane, we think we managed to bring home the point that whilst in our customers lives, styles, fashions and the world around us, is constantly in motion, sometimes it is comforting to know that the taste and size of your favourite Tunnock’s treat is a constant that you can rely on.”
A spokesperson for Lane said they were “proud to work with the iconic brand” for their new TV spot.
They said: “This one came with a catch – new LHF (Less Healthy Food) regulations for HFSS (High in Fat, Sugar, or Salt) products brought the added challenge of not being able to show or mention any of the brand’s iconic products.
“With a few brand cues and wardrobes and hairstyles that spanned decades, we brought Tunnock’s timeless tastiness to life.”
Tunnock’s sales director, Fergus Loudon, has previously criticised the ad crackdown, saying: “What we really need to guard against is, as an industry, being blamed for societal problems which are most definitely not of our making.
“Obesity is a serious issue but it’s an issue that only education will address. Banning chocolate biscuit ads on TV before nine o’clock to prevent obesity is rather like banning foreign holidays to prevent skin damage from too much sun.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “Obesity robs our kids of the best possible start in life, sets them up for a lifetime of health problems, and costs the NHS billions.
“This government is taking action now to end the targeting of junk food ads at kids, across both TV and online.
“This is the first step to deliver a major shift in the focus of healthcare from sickness to prevention, and towards meeting our government’s ambition to give every child a healthy, happy start to life.”
