Bunnings caught short on undersized snapper: NZ Advertising Standards Authority settles BBQ complaint with hardware giant

Bunnings was advertising Matador BBQs. Photo / Supplied

Bunnings has pulled a TV ad for a BBQ after eagle-eyed viewers complained it showed under-sized fish being cooked.

The ad for a Matador BBQ showed a bunch of friends fishing and then cooking the fish they caught by the beach.

One viewer said they saw the ad about 6.30pm one day and noticed the people had cooked “several undersized snapper” on it and this was “not a good look”, the NZ Advertising Standards Authority said in its decision.

The complainant said while the original ad may have been an Aussie advertisement it was not appropriate to screen it in New Zealand.

“It creates a really bad impression and allows excuses to catch and cook undersize fish as people ‘saw it on TV’,” the viewer said, according to the NZASA review into whether the ad was appropriate or not.

“I’ve never complained about an ad as I think it’s stupid what people complain about, but this is depicting people breaking the laws of NZ so needs to be removed.”

A second viewer said they were concerned the ad “gives the wrong message and undermines MPI’s attempts to educate people about size limits”.

After receiving the complaint about its ad, Bunnings removed it from television and said it would not run it again, the NZASA chair said.

That settled the matter, the chair said.