Bitter Ramifications

The enforcement of tougher rules regarding the advertising of alcohol has begun, as Young’s Bitter recently discovered.

The enforcement of tougher rules regarding the advertising of alcohol has begun, as Young’s Bitter recently discovered.

As reported in the drinks business e-newsletter, a ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in early January suggested that a man with the head of a ram linked alcohol with social success and seduction, and that this violates the rules for alcohol advertising. The posters, which the ASA has made Young’s withdraw, featured the phrase “This is a ram’s world.”

New guidelines  came into effect in January 2005, but a grace period was allowed until the end of September. These rules were to be more effectively worded, and deal more strongly with issues such as sexual content and the likelihood of alcohol adverts appealing to a youth audience.

This is the first campaign found to violate the new code. When the posters were launched in 2004, however, the ASA received no complaints. It was not until the campaign was repeated in 2005 that it received an objection based on the new rules. Young’s argued that the ram image has been used as a symbol for the brewery for over 150 years, and
that neither of the images “indicated that the product would lead to sexual or social
success or showed the consumption of alcohol”.

But both posters were found to violate a rule stating that adverts should “not suggest that drinking alcohol is a reason for the success of any personal relationship or social event”, with one poster breaking the rule that adverts must not “link alcohol with seduction, sexual activity or sexual success”.

Michael Hardman, head of public relations for Young’s, says of the posters, “We considered them a bit of fun. It’s a shame not everyone shares our sense of humour.”

db February 2006