Huel Advert Featuring Spencer Matthews Banned for 'Irresponsible' Claims

An advertisement for the meal replacement Huel, featuring former Made In Chelsea star Spencer Matthews, has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for making "irresponsible" claims about the product's suitability for extreme endurance athletes.

The advertisement, which appeared on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook in April and May, featured Matthews recounting an anecdote about an ultramarathon runner named James who he claimed "eats Huel and only Huel every day" and won a 230km race through the Amazon Rainforest "by miles."

The ASA upheld four complaints against the advert, ruling that Matthews's story presented an "exclusively Huel-based diet as compatible with completing, and significantly outperforming other competitors, in an exceptionally demanding endurance event." The watchdog stated that the advert "encouraged or condoned irresponsible dietary habits."

While Huel's founder, Julian Hearn, was featured in the conversation and stated that "in an ideal world you should have nutritionally complete whole food," the ASA noted that he did not challenge the implication that an all-Huel diet was appropriate for such an event. Hearn did mention that he himself consumes Huel for breakfast and lunch during the workweek for convenience.

Huel argued that the advert was intended to dispel misconceptions that the product should replace meals 100% of the time and that it does not position Huel as a complete diet replacement or claim to improve athletic performance. The company stated that Huel is intended for "inconvenient meals when a whole food option isn’t on the table, as part of a varied and balanced diet."

However, the ASA concluded that the advert gave the impression that exclusively consuming Huel in place of conventional food was an acceptable dietary practice, compatible with demanding physical activity and exceptional sporting performance.

The ASA ruled that the advert must not be shown again in its current form, and Huel was warned against encouraging the exclusive consumption of its product in the future.

Spencer Matthews, a brand ambassador for Huel, participated in the 2023 Jungle Ultra race, a 230km event through the Amazon, to raise funds for the Michael Matthews Foundation in honor of his late brother. He finished the race in third place, with his trainer John Belton coming in second. Matthews described the race as the "hardest physical challenge" he had ever undertaken.