Burger King burned over coffee advertisement

A person who complained about being served their coffee in a paper cup has had a complaint against Burger King upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority.

B Hay complained that a poster advertisement displayed a Burger King outlets and on company brochures was headed "Illy Premium Coffee". Pictured below was an Illy branded china cup filled with coffee, sitting on a saucer.

Wording in the left hand corner of the advertisement said: "Serving suggestion only".

Complainant Hay said the coffee ordered was served in a "horrible" paper cup.

"When I asked for a decent cup to drink the coffee from I was told that the picture was for advertising purposes only and I had to accept the coffee I had ordered in a paper cup.

"I feel this was grossly misleading advertising and would certainly not have contemplated even going into the outlet if I had known the coffee was not to be served in a porcelain cup and saucer as on their advertisements."

Burger King said the actual coffee served was accurately represented in the photograph, but the cup holding the coffee was not available.

"The reason we display our coffee in a ceramic cup is due to our licensing agreement with Illy."

However the Complaints Board was of the view that the serving vessel was an integral part of the enjoyment of certain beverages such as coffee, wine and tea, and drinking any of these from a paper or plastic vessel would be likely to diminish the experience considerably.

It upheld the complaint, saying Burger King was in breach of Rule 2 of the Code of Ethics, relating to truthful presentation.

- NZPA