Ad description
Four posts on Drink Doctor Ltd's Facebook page, seen in December 2016, promoted a 24-hour alcohol delivery service:
a. A cartoon image of a man drinking wine from a bottle was accompanied by text stating, "People are not addicted to alcohol or drugs, they are addicted to escaping reality".
b. Text stated "ACCORDING TO CHEMISTRY, ALCOHOL IS THE SOLUTION".
c. An image of a man drinking wine from three bottles in one go and standing in front of a large number of stacked boxes containing wine was accompanied by text stating "In Jerusalem there is the Wailing Wall. We have the WINEing Wall in Manchester.
d. An image of Noel Gallagher was accompanied by text stating "I see people all the time going to therapy, thinking they've got a problem. What's up with everyone get onit [sic], order a Crateman and live a little...or a lot".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ads were irresponsible, because he believed they promoted drinking styles that were unwise, and trivialised alcohol addiction.
Response
Drink Doctor Ltd said they had simply attached their brand to popular memes but could see how sometimes that could be deemed a little inappropriate.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code stated that ads must be socially responsible and must contain nothing that was likely to lead people to adopt styles of drinking that were unwise. For example, they should not encourage excessive drinking. The Code also stated that ads must not imply drinking alcohol could overcome boredom, loneliness or other problems.
The ASA considered that ad (a), which included the cartoon image of a man drinking wine from a bottle and the accompanying text that stated "People are not addicted to alcohol or drugs, they are addicted to escaping reality", was likely to encourage excessive drinking. We considered that the same was true of ad (c), which showed a man drinking wine from three bottles in one go and standing in front of a large number of stacked boxes of wine.
We considered that the image and text in ad (a) was also likely to imply that drinking alcohol could help people cope with personal problems by ‘escaping the reality’ of their lives. We considered that the statement in ad (b) that "ACCORDING TO CHEMISTRY, ALCOHOL IS A SOLUTION" would similarly be interpreted to mean that drinking alcohol could help people find “a solution” to personal problems. Although it was presented in the form of an apparent quote from Noel Gallagher, we considered the statement in ad (d) that "I see people all the time going to therapy, thinking they've got a problem. What's up with everyone get onit [sic], order a Crateman and live a little...or a lot" would be understood to mean that those who felt they might have a problematic relationship with alcohol should ignore that issue and continue to drink.
For those reasons, we concluded that all four ads were irresponsible.
Ad (a) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 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. and 18.6 18.6 Marketing communications must not imply that alcohol might be indispensable or take priority in life or that drinking alcohol can overcome boredom, loneliness or other problems. (Alcohol), ad (c) breached 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. and ads (b) and (d) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 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. and 18.7 (Alcohol).
Action
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Drink Doctor Ltd to ensure in future that their ads contained nothing that was likely to lead people to adopt styles of drinking that were unwise, including by not encouraging excessive drinking, and that they did not imply drinking alcohol could overcome boredom, loneliness or other problems.
