An ad featuring two young girls eating Dairylea cheese while hanging upside down was banned in the UK due to concerns that it could promote dangerous behaviour.
According to Sky News, 14 viewers complained about the ad that was broadcast on ITV Hub, All 4, and My 5 in August, “condoned or encouraged unsafe behaviour that could be dangerous for children to emulate.”
The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) reportedly declared that they took advice from the Child Accident Prevention Trust, which apparently detected a potentially high risk of choking in the scene depicted in the ad.
"We therefore considered that eating whilst upside down was an unsafe practice and one which could be dangerous for children to emulate,” ASA said. "We therefore concluded that a scheduling restriction was not sufficient to reduce the risk of harm and that the ad breached the Code."
ASA also mentioned that one complainant claimed that their three-year-old relative ate their food while hanging upside down after watching the ad.
The media outlet points out, however, that Mondelez UK, the owner of Dairylea, argued that there was a very low risk of choking when eating upside down.