Ad description
Two ads for River Rock whisky, seen on 8 January 2021:
a. The first ad, a post on River Rock's Facebook page, was headed "Whisky & the Wilderness". Text stated "What better way to celebrate the launch of batch #2 than with a whisky tasting at 3500ft? Read our blog about last December’s memorable tasting …”. It was accompanied with images of people mountaineering. A bottle of whisky was shown with the mountaineers in one of the images.
b. The second ad, a page on the website www.riverrockwhisky.org/whiskyandthewildnerness, stated "What better way to mark the launch of River Rock batch #2 than by summiting 3500 feet for a wild whisky tasting with good friends? We, at River Rock … welcomed the opportunity to mark the launch of our second batch with a mountaineering adventure … The destination was the little known mountain wilderness of Black Mount where we were to summit Stob Ghabhar … characterised by its narrow rocky ridges and steep sides ... As with all good adventures, the conditions and landscape were ever changing and as the weather started to close in, it was waterproofs on and ice axes out for the snowy ascent. Snaking up single file with the snow and mist closing in. Thick snow at the summit, with 100ft vertical drops and narrow ridges made for a rewarding and memorable whisky tasting ...".
The ad featured various images of the mountaineers climbing the mountain. One image showed a bottle of River Rock being poured into small tumblers. Another showed someone pouring whisky into a fellow mountaineer's cup. The final paragraph stated “The evening culminated in a welcome dram around the fire and a toast to good friends”, and was accompanied by an image of the group standing around a fire with mugs in their hands and one person pouring whisky into another person’s cup.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ads were irresponsible, because they linked alcohol with an activity or location in which drinking would be unsafe.Response
RR Whisky Ltd did not believe the ads showed people drinking in a situation that would be unsafe or stated that dangerous activities should be undertaken whilst, or after, drinking their product. Although the ads featured images of mountains, and people walking, they did not believe the ads implied or stated that the people featured had consumed whisky. They pointed out that images of bottles and pouring shots were commonly used in whisky marketing and conveyed a sense of the place the whisky was made. They said their pouring shot involving people was in an outdoor, safe environment with a waterfall background; they did not believe it took place in an unsafe environment. They believed the ads did not state or encourage people to drink whisky at the top of a mountain. They explained that the experience of walking to the top of a mountain created strong memories that were shared over a whisky tasting and they maintained that the only drinking shots and whisky tasting took place after the walk.
Whilst they recognised that in posing the question “What better way to celebrate the launch of batch #2 than with a whisky tasting at 3500ft?” they may have inadvertently implied that the whisky tasting itself took place at 3500 feet, in fact the whisky tasting took place back at the car park area after the walk and they believed the imagery used clearly demonstrated that.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code stated ads must not link alcohol with activities or locations in which drinking would be unsafe. It permitted alcohol ads to feature sporting or physical activities, but stated that ads must not imply those activities were undertaken after the consumption of alcohol.
The ASA noted that neither ad showed someone drinking alcohol. However, ad (a) featured the line “What better way to celebrate the launch of batch #2 than with a whisky tasting at 3500ft? Read our blog about last December’s memorable tasting” and we considered consumers were likely to interpret that to mean whisky had been consumed at that altitude. That was compounded by the images of mountaineers shown walking along a narrow, steep, snow-covered ridge high up on a mountain, together with an image of the whisky product with the mountaineers. We considered drinking alcohol in such conditions would be unsafe and therefore ad (a) breached the Code.
Ad (b) featured the statements "What better way to mark the launch of River Rock batch #2 than by summiting 3500 feet for a wild whisky tasting with good friends?” and “Thick snow at the summit, with 100ft vertical drops and narrow ridges made for a rewarding and memorable whisky tasting”. As with ad (a), the images showed people mountaineering in challenging conditions, and the accompanying text highlighted that where it stated the mountain was “characterised by its narrow rocky ridges and steep sides”, “the conditions and landscape were ever changing”, “as the weather started to close in, it was waterproofs on and ice axes out for the snowy ascent”, “snaking up single file with the snow and mist closing in” and “Thick snow at the summit with 100ft vertical drops and narrow ridges”. In addition to the references to a whisky tasting at the summit, there were several images of the whisky product with the mountaineers whilst on the mountain; one of them showed the product being poured into tumblers and one showed a mountaineer pouring the whisky into the mug of a fellow mountaineer. We therefore considered that ad (b) also gave the impression that whisky had been consumed at an altitude of 3,500 feet in the same conditions.
Whilst we acknowledged the final paragraph referred to a “welcome dram” and “toast” around the fire in the evening and an image showing the mountaineers in the car park after they had descended the mountain, that did not negate the strong impression that whisky had been consumed on the mountain, after which the participants would need to descend during treacherous weather conditions and on difficult terrain. We therefore considered ad (b) also linked alcohol with activities and locations in which drinking would be unsafe.
The ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule
18.12
18.12
Marketing communications must not link alcohol with activities or locations in which drinking would be unsafe or unwise.
Marketing communications must not link alcohol with the use of potentially dangerous machinery or driving. Marketing communications may feature sporting and other physical activities (subject to other rules in this section; for example, appeal to under-18s or link with daring or aggression) but must not imply that those activities have been undertaken after the consumption of alcohol.
(Alcohol).
Action
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told RR Whisky Ltd to ensure their ads were not irresponsible in future, for example, by linking alcohol with activities or locations in which drinking would be unsafe or by suggesting that sporting or other physical activities had been undertaken after the consumption of alcohol.
