A Dairylea advert which features two girls hanging upside down while eating cheese triangles has been banned over safety fears.
The video on demand ad, which was broadcast on ITV Hub, All 4 and My 5 back in August, showed the two young girls hanging upside down from a football goal as one opened the cheese snack and ate it.
Viewers complained that the advert could encourage unsafe behaviour if children were to copy it.
However Dairylea owner Mondelez UK said the purpose of the advert was to highlight parents giving more freedom to children and two parents can been seen supervising the girls in the background.
The company cited a study that they said supported their view that a person's ability to swallow was not affected by the position they ate in, including when eating upside down.
Based on the research, and because Dairylea was a soft food, they considered there was a very low risk of choking when eating upside down.
Despite this, however, Mondelez said they were no longer running it and would remove references to eating upside down if they used it in future.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said it sought advice from the Child Accident Prevention Trust, whose view was that the scenario depicted in the ad represented a situation where there was potentially a high risk of choking.
The ASA also noted that one complainant had reported that their three-year-old relative, after seeing the ad, ate their food whilst hanging upside down.
The ASA said: "We therefore considered that eating whilst upside down was an unsafe practice and one which could be dangerous for children to emulate.
"We therefore concluded that a scheduling restriction was not sufficient to reduce the risk of harm and that the ad breached the Code."
The ASA ruled that the ad must not appear again, adding: "We told Mondelez UK to ensure their advertising did not condone or encourage unsafe practices."
A Mondelez spokesman said: "We recognise and will abide by the ASA's decision but we are disappointed by the ruling.
"We carefully consulted with Clearcast to pre-approve the content of this video on demand advert prior to airing.
"It was aimed at adults (parents) rather than young children and was deliberately scheduled away from programming likely to appeal to children under 16. As such, we believe it was unlikely to encourage 'copycat' behaviour by young children.
"We remain committed to responsible advertising and work with a range of partners to make sure our marketing meets and complies with all relevant UK regulations."
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