The UK Banned This Coke Ad For Saying That You Can Lose Weight By Laughing

Coca-Cola / YouTubeCoke's ad claimed laughing burned calories.The British Advertising Standards Authority has decreed that an ad for Coca-Cola must not be broadcast again because it makes misleading claims about how much activity it takes to burn off the 139 calories contained in a can.

The ad had stated that activities such as "75 seconds of laughing out loud" and "25 minutes of letting your dog be your GPS" would help burn those calories.

But the ASA noted that although there was a plus sign between each scene in the ad — intended to convey that the sum of all the activities would burn 139 calories — most viewers thought Coke was trying to tell them that each activity on its own would do the same.

Coke defended the ad, the ASA said, noting, "They provided their calorie expenditure calculations for the activities and said the ad also included on-screen text stating that 'calories burnt may vary.'"

The spot was created by ad agency Publicis.

Here's the U.S. version of the ad, which uses 140 calories as its per-can value: