EFL and Papa Johns broke rules by sending pizza ads to children

Subscribers as young as 13 received calendar events in October last year for the EFL Papa Johns Trophy for games between Stevenage and Tottenham Hotspur U21 and Burton Albion and Bradford City, which read: “We’ve partnered with Papa Johns to offer fans 50% off pizza! Simply show your EFL season or match ticket to staff in a Papa Johns store for half price on your pizza order!”

After the fixture in question, City advanced to the second round of the Papa Johns Trophy despite a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Burton at the Pirelli Stadium. 

The Children’s Food Campaign complained that the ads directed products that were high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) at children.

The EFL said Papa Johns was entitled to a range of branding and advertising opportunities as part of its status as sponsor of the competition.

However it said the promotion had been removed prior to the complaint and it had no intention of reinstating it.

Action from the game between Burton and Bradord City (Image: Thomas Gadd)

The EFL added that there was only a “marginal” number of under-16s who were subscribed to the fixture syncing, and they therefore considered that the promotional message was not directed at under-16s.

Papa Johns also said they did not consider that the ads were directed at children, and they did not have access to the EFL’s subscriber data and therefore were not able to take an independent decision about whether under-16s would be included in the audience.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) noted that ads for HFSS products must not be directed at under-16s and that no medium should be used to advertise junk food if more than 25% of its audience was under 16 years of age.

The ASA found that the EFL had chosen to allow syncing of the calendar to those who were 13 years old or over, which meant that those who were aged between 13 and 15 years of age were allowed access to the fixture events containing the Papa Johns’ promotional message.

The ASA said: “We were not supplied with the number of under-16s who downloaded the fixture events containing the promotional message. Nevertheless, we understood that 0.02% of those who had signed up to sync football fixtures to their e-calendar since May 2021 were under-16.

“The ads, which contained promotional offers for HFSS products, had therefore been sent to a number of individuals under the age of 16.

“For that reason, we considered the EFL and Papa Johns had not taken reasonable steps to exclude under-16s from the audience, and that the ads had been directed at children through the selection of media in which they appeared.”

Barbara Crowther, manager of the Children’s Food Campaign at charity Sustain, said: “We’re very pleased that the ASA has shown the red card to Papa Johns Pizza for putting junk food ads into football fans’ calendars. It was totally intrusive for anyone just wanting to follow their favourite team, and especially for children under 16.

“The EFL age-gating failed to protect young fans from this promotion, and those who had opted out of receiving additional marketing communications still got these notifications.

“That’s why we called a foul and reported it to the ASA. We hope this case sets a useful precedent for protecting all sporting fans from future marketing activity.

“We are pleased to see that the EFL has now ended its sponsorship deal with Papa Johns Pizza, and it’s time for the Government to blow the whistle and kick junk food marketing out of sport for good.”