McDonald’s Australia has removed a television ad after it was found breaching standards for targeting children.

The ad, which features McDonald’s cartoon character Birdie, promoted the ‘Birdie’s Brekkie Meal’. Birdie was shown flying across real-world scenes, transforming people and the environment into colourful or animated characters as she delivers meals or drinks.

Complaints were lodged on the grounds that the ad was promoting junk food to kids. They said the bright cartoon characters and scenery would draw the attention of children, as would the catchy song about ‘Birdie’s Brekkie Meal’.

In response, McDonald’s said the ad was intended for a broad audience, arguing that children would not recognise the Birdie character and would be unlikely to find it appealing. 

The company added that the ad showed adult settings and did not feature any children, and that it was only placed in spots where the predicted average audience did not have 25 per cent or more children.

Following an assessment, the Ad Standards Community Panel said the combination of a new breakfast meal, a catchy tune, and the cartoon-style animations would likely outweigh the fact that the audience may not predominantly be children.  

The bright colouring and cartoon characters also resembled everyday Happy Meal packaging to the point that children would likely notice. 

The Panel also considered that the meal did not appear to meet the applicable Food Standards
Australia Nutrient Profile Scoring Criteria to be considered healthy.

In addition, the complainants saw this ad during typical dinner time while watching television, which increased the likelihood of children being present and seeing the ad. 

“The Panel considered that these elements combined could be of significant appeal to children. Even children who were not familiar with the ‘Birdie’ character, or who did not realise that this character had nostalgic appeal for adults, would still be enticed by the ad,” Ad Standards said.

As a result, McDonald’s has removed the ad. 

“Whilst we are disappointed with the outcome, McDonald’s remains committed to ensuring compliance with the AANA Advertising Codes and we respect the final decision from Ad Standards,” the company said.

In August, McDonald’s had to modify advertisements about its delivery services after Ad Standards found that their content was misleading.