Cadbury pulls ‘intensely stupid’ ad that encouraged kids to break the law

The Freddo advertising campaign suggested kids should 'grab your metal detector' and head to protected sites.

Cadbury has been forced to axe an advertising campaign after it was slammed as ‘intensely stupid’ by history experts who accused it of encouraging children to break the law.

The chocolate giant’s Freddo Treasures campaign urged kids to ‘grab your metal detector and go hunting for Roman riches’ or ‘dig up Viking silver’.

It suggested famous sites in Somerset and shipwrecks in Devon where ‘treasure’s fair game’.

The campaign also said it’s ‘probably worth a quick check’ at Mooghaun Fort, in the Republic of Ireland, where gold ingots were discovered.

Cadbury was criticised for not warning that digging without permission is illegal and that it ‘advocated looting’.

Parent company, Mondelez International, said the campaign had aimed to ‘inspire families to go on everyday adventures together’ – not break the law.

Archaeologist at Bristol University, Dr Aisling Tierney, said to ‘suggest a “quick check” is intensely stupid and deeply illegal’ and added that the Republic of Ireland has strict laws on metal detectors.

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She said: ‘Archaeologists are trying to get word round ASAP that any digging within a set distance of an archaeological monument is a criminal offence, and people are prosecuted, even if they didn’t know it was illegal.

‘The campaign makes it seem all treasure hunting is OK and what you find is up for grabs.’

The Advertising Standards Authority said it had received around 30 complaints about the campaign.

The watchdog said people had complained calling the advert ‘irresponsible’ by encouraging ‘potentially illegal activity’ such as committing trespass by accessing sites without permission, causing criminal damage by digging without permission, or by stealing objects belonging to landlords.

Following the backlash, the chocolate firm was forced to take down a website for the campaign and added that it was going to update it to ‘focus solely on directing families to museums where existing treasures can be found’.

The move was welcomed by heritage minister Michael Ellis who branded the campaign ‘irresponsible’.

The Northampton North MP added: ‘This irresponsible campaign places heritage sites and finds at risk.

‘I am all for encouraging people to explore our nation’s history through our spectacular heritage sites, but we have laws in place to protect our most important archaeological sites and the Treasure Act safeguards finds so that they can be studied and preserved to benefit the public.’

Ellis added that he was pleased Cadbury had removed the campaign and ‘called on them to engage with the heritage community to ensure they understand the consequences.’

A spokeswoman for Mondelez International said: ‘It was not our intention to encourage anyone to break existing regulations regarding the discovery of new archaeological artefacts and we are grateful this matter has been brought to our attention.

‘We can now confirm that the web page has been taken down and we are updating the content to focus solely on directing families to museums where existing treasures can be found.’