Background
Summary of Council decision:
Three issues were investigated, all of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A tweet and videos that appeared on the advertiser's website (as a pre-roll ad on YouTube and on the advertiser's YouTube channel) promoting wine, were seen between 12 August 2015 and 4 September 2015.
a. The tweet from the 'Premier Estates Wine' Twitter account, dated 11 August, stated "Tweet 'I want to #TasteTheBush' and you could wine [sic] a case of wine!...". The tweet also included an image of a woman, from her chest to her mid-thigh, standing behind a table on which a glass of red wine was resting directly in front of her crotch. Overlaid text stated "#TasteTheBush".
b. The website for Premier Estates Wines www.premierestates.co.uk included a video on the "News" page of the site as part of a post entitled "We Invite You to #TasteTheBush". It featured a woman in a kitchen holding a glass of red wine and talking about the positive attributes of Premier Estates Australian wines. After she had taken a sip she stated "Luscious, earthy, bursting with fruit and spice. Australia practically jumps out of the glass". She then placed the glass on the table in front of her, directly in front of her crotch, before continuing "In fact, some say you can almost taste the bush". She then looked awkwardly away from the camera before picking up her glass and walking away from the table.
c) The video that appeared on the 'Premier Estates' YouTube channel was identical to ad (b).
d) A pre-roll ad on YouTube, was identical to ad (b).
Issue
The ASA received eight complaints.
1. Five complainants, including Wine Australia, a statutory body within Australia whose role included promoting the consumption and sale of Australian wine overseas, challenged whether the ads (b) and (c) were offensive, because they were sexist and degrading towards women.
2. One complainant challenged whether ad (a) was offensive, for the same reasons.
3. Three complainants, including Alcohol Concern, challenged whether the ads were in breach of the Code because they linked alcohol with sexual activity.
Response
1. Budge Brands Ltd t/a Premier Estates Wine stated that the campaign was targeted at a mature 35- to 45-year-old, wine-drinking, audience and was intended to be playful and tongue-in-cheek. They said the ad showed a confident, elegant woman in her thirties who delivered a calm and reasoned monologue about the Premier Estates Wine’s Australian Shiraz that she was tasting. The language used focused on the flavour of the wine with lots of description of its taste characteristics. They specifically referenced Australia in the voice-over, so when the line “… some say you can almost taste the bush” was delivered and the glass positioned in front of her, it could be understood as a double-entendre. While they acknowledged that the joke might not be to everyone’s taste, they said the woman was in charge and owned the joke, and they were careful to ensure the wording worked on both levels – as innuendo and as a straight piece of monologue.
2. Premier Estates Wine said the ads were part of their social media campaign which was designed to complement the video ad and encourage fans to engage with the campaign. The image that featured in both had been taken directly from the video, which had been targeted at fans previously. They had asked recipients to tweet “I want to #TasteTheBush” for the chance to win a case of the Australian Shiraz featured in the ad. As before, they stated that the ad worked on two levels as a straight forward statement referring to the wine’s Australian origin and as a double-entendre.
3. They said there was no suggestion of, nor link with ‘seduction, sexual activity or sexual success’, simply a double entendre on the vocabulary often heard around the tasting of wines. The actress was not dressed in a provocative manner and showed no seductive body language.
YouTube did not have any comments in response to the complaint.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA considered that most viewers would understand the claim "… some say you can almost taste the bush" to be a reference to oral sex, particularly given that it was accompanied with the image of the wine glass positioned directly in front of the woman's crotch. The line appeared towards the end of the ad and, in conjunction with the image, which emphasised the sexual connation, created the final impression left by the ad. While the woman was immediately aware of the double-entendre and seemingly only mildly embarrassed as a result, we considered that it served to undermine her as, until that point, she had been portrayed as confident and in control while discussing the merits of the wine, in what appeared to be a relaxed and informal party atmosphere. For that reason, we considered that the ad presented the woman in a degrading manner, and concluded that it was likely to cause serious or widespread offence.
On that point, ads (b) and (c) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule
4.1
4.1
Marketing communications must not contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence. Particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. Compliance will be judged on the context, medium, audience, product and prevailing standards.
Marketing communications may be distasteful without necessarily breaching this rule. Marketers are urged to consider public sensitivities before using potentially offensive material.
The fact that a product is offensive to some people is not grounds for finding a marketing communication in breach of the Code.
2. Upheld
We noted that the ad included a still from the video, which only showed the woman’s arms and torso, with a glass of red wine resting on a table directly in front of her crotch, and the text “#TasteTheBush” overlaid. While we understood the claim was intended to be tongue-in-cheek and could be construed to relate to the qualities of Australian wine, as stated in point 1 above, we considered that recipients would understand the dual meaning and the clear reference to oral sex. We considered that the cropped image which concealed the woman’s face accompanied by text that was also referring to her genitalia and oral sex, served to reduce the woman to merely a sexual object. In light of that, we considered that the ad presented the woman in a degrading manner and was likely to cause serious or widespread offence. Further, we considered that the fact recipients of the tweet were encouraged to re-tweet the claim themselves to partake in a competition was likely to amplify any offence caused. For those reasons we concluded that the ad was in breach of the Code.
On that point, ad (a) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
4.1
4.1
Marketing communications must not contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence. Particular care must be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or age. Compliance will be judged on the context, medium, audience, product and prevailing standards.
Marketing communications may be distasteful without necessarily breaching this rule. Marketers are urged to consider public sensitivities before using potentially offensive material.
The fact that a product is offensive to some people is not grounds for finding a marketing communication in breach of the Code.
(Harm and offence) and
8.7
8.7
No promotion or promotional item should cause serious or widespread offence to consumers.
(Sales promotions).
3. Upheld
We considered that consumers would understand the claim “#TasteTheBush”, particularly when accompanied with an image of a woman standing behind a wine glass, which emphasised her crotch, to be a double-entendre referring to both Australian red wine, and female genitalia and oral sex. We also noted that the ads clearly promoted an alcoholic product and that an image of a glass of red wine was featured in each ad. Because the ads clearly referenced oral sex and featured an alcoholic product, we concluded that they linked alcohol with sexual activity and were in breach of the Code.
On that point, the ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 18.5 18.5 Marketing communications must neither link alcohol with seduction, sexual activity or sexual success nor imply that alcohol can enhance attractiveness. (Alcohol).
Action
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Premier Estates Wine to ensure their ads did not cause serious or widespread offence and to ensure they did not link alcohol with sexual activity in future.
