KEY POINTS:
A South Island salmon farm's claim that its fish are raised in a pristine Golden Bay spring is misleading, says the Advertising Standards Authority.
A TV advertisement for Regal smoked salmon says: "Reared in the Waikoropupu Springs, the purest waters in the world, it's little wonder Regal smoked salmon is the world's finest tasting salmon."
But two complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority said the fish weren't raised in the springs, but in a hatchery beside them.
"The company is trading on the springs' reputation for purity with the deliberate intention to mislead," one of the complainants said.
NZ King Salmon told the authority: "Obviously we accept that our salmon are not reared in the springs themselves. The advertising voice-over is seeking to place the location of the hatchery in the generic sense.
"We are trading on the Springs' reputation for purity, but have not, nor would have, a deliberate intention to mislead."
But it conceded the ad's claim was "not absolutely accurate".
The board said an advertiser had to be able to back up any claims made.
And advertisements had to stand alone, without relying on context of the rest of the campaign to make sense.
The board ruled: "The advertisement contained an exaggerated claim in the form of a direct statement, which was misleading to consumers."
- NZPA
