Background
Summary of Council decision:
Four issues were investigated, all of which were Upheld.
Ad description
Three Instagram posts and a Facebook post for The Hive, a nightclub in Edinburgh:
a. The first Instagram post, posted 25 April 2022, featured an image with text that stated, “Me: ‘I need to save more money’ Everyone: ‘Why don’t you to [sic] drink less’ Me: …” and an image below of a man with superimposed text next to him that stated “No, not that… Something else”. A logo featuring a pint glass full of beer and the text “DRUNK MOMENTS” was in the top left-hand corner of the image. The post included the caption “Let’s start the week as we mean to go on… Free Entry £1 Vodka, Gin or Whisky £2 Jack, SoCo or Morgan’s £2 All Bombs £3 pornstar martinis / Espresso Martinis £5 Venoms”.
b. The second Instagram post, posted 30 April 2022, featured an image of text that stated, “I wasn’t going to drink tonight but then I remembered it’s the only part of adulthood I enjoy”. The post included the caption “Edinburghs [sic] only place to be on a Saturday … £1.50 Vodka, Gin or Whisky* £1.50 Strawberry Sourz £2 Bottle Beer £2.50 VKS £3 Cocktails Bottles from £49”.
c. The third Instagram post, posted 12 May 2022, featured an image with text that stated “My friends: Let’s not get crazy tonight Also my friends: …” and an image below of a waiter taking a drinks order from three women with the text “Shots?” superimposed on the image multiple times. The post included the caption “… Drinks from £1 …”.
d. The Facebook post, posted 13 June, included the caption “POPTASTIC MONDAYS £1 DRINKS £1 SHOTS £5 VENOMS …”. Underneath was an image of text that stated, “Not only do I dance like nobody is watching, I also drink as if I don’t work in the morning”.
Issue
The ASA challenged whether the following ads were irresponsible, because they encouraged excessive drinking:
1. Ad (a);
2. Ad (b);
3. Ad (c); and
4. Ad (d).
Response
1. - 4. City Clubs (Edinburgh) Ltd t/a The Hive said that they accepted that the posts were not socially responsible. While memes were commonplace on such platforms, they were not appropriate to use in ads for their business. They would remove the ads and any similar ads that appeared on their social media pages.Assessment
1., 2., 3. & 4. Upheld
The CAP Code required marketing communications to be socially responsible and contain nothing that was likely to lead people to adopt styles of drinking that were unwise, including encouraging excessive drinking.
The ASA considered that ad (a), which featured a man rejecting the idea of drinking less to save money when he needed to, implied that he regularly drank a lot and did not want to change that behaviour.
Ad (b) stated, “I wasn’t going to drink tonight but then I remembered it’s the only part of adulthood I enjoy”. We considered that would be interpreted to mean that drinking alcohol was the only thing that brought adults enjoyment, and therefore it was acceptable to drink on any occasion.
We considered that ad (c), which featured a group of friends saying they were not going to get “crazy” on a night out, but then ordered shots, implied that they were not able to control how much they drank.
Ad (d) stated, “Not only do I dance like nobody is watching, I also drink as if I don’t work in the morning”. We considered that implied that people prioritised drinking large amounts of alcohol over their work responsibilities.
All of the posts included a caption that gave the prices of drinks alongside details about events that were being held at The Hive.
We acknowledged that the ads were intended to be light-hearted. However, we considered they nonetheless condoned and encouraged excessive drinking and therefore were socially irresponsible and breached the Code.
Ads (a), (b), (c) and (d) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 18.1 18.1 Marketing communications must be socially responsible and must contain nothing that is likely to lead people to adopt styles of drinking that are unwise. For example, they should not encourage excessive drinking. Care should be taken not to exploit the young, the immature or those who are mentally or socially vulnerable. (Alcohol).
Action
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told City Clubs (Edinburgh) Ltd t/a The Hive to ensure that their future ads did not condone or encourage excessive drinking.
