M-Net didn't mislead with MasterChef prize

Cape Town – The Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) has ruled that M-Net was not deceitful in the pay-TV channel's advertising and marketing of the controversial prize for the winner of the the first season of MasterChef South Africa.

M-Net heavily hyped that the winner would receive "over R8 million worth of prizes" and "his or her own restaurant" in the run up and during the first season of the local adaptation of the format show which looked to find an amateur chef.

After receiving a complaint following public uproar when it became clear that the MasterChef South Africa winner Deena Naidoo would not actually be getting his own restaurant but only the use of it for a period of time, the ASA said that M-Net's likely viewers would be able to appreciate that "one does not actually 'own' any part of a complex like Montecasino ... but rents floor space from the building owners".

The ASA directorate dismissed the complaints and said that "a hypothetical, reasonable person would not expect the winner to own the physical structure in the sense that the building which houses the restaurant would be theirs too".