The UK advertising watchdog has banned a number of ads for Cadbury's Freddo chocolate bars for breaching junk food advertising rules.
An investigation was launched by the UK Advertising Standards Authority after a poster for the bars was displayed within 100 metres of a primary school.
There were also complaints made about two YouTube ads, and a website that featured a downloadable comic and audio book about the Freddo character.
Responding to the complaints, Cadbury acknowledged that a mistake was made by the owner of the poster site and the ad was placed too close to a school.
The company said the ad had been been removed and "steps would be taken in future to prevent this from occurring again".
However, they defended the other ads and promotions, saying they were not directly targeted at children.
Advertising rules
Under ASA rules in the UK, ads for products high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) must not be directed at children "through the selection of media or the context in which they appeared".
No medium can be used to advertise such products if more than 25% of the audience is under 16.
The ASA upheld the complaints about the poster, comic and audio book.
They ruled: "[The ads] must not appear again in the form complained about.
"We told Mondelez UK Ltd t/a Cadbury to take reasonable steps in future to ensure that HFSS product ads were not directed at children through the selection of media or the context in which they appeared."
The ASA found that the YouTube ads were not in breach - acknowledging "it was not possible to know" what proportion of the audience was under the age of 18.
They also didn't uphold a complaint about a promotions page on Cadbury's Freddo website, saying the content was not directly targeted at pre-school and primary school children.
Responding to the decision, a spokesperson for Cadbury's parent company Mondelez said: "We are already taking the insights and views provided by the ASA as part of this ruling and applying those learnings to our future content so we can continue to build on our commitment in this area."
