Ad description
A post on Bowmore Single Malt Whisky’s Facebook page, seen on 9 May 2024, featured text stating, “Time to reset. Discover a rich experience. An opportunity to escape, indulge and be truly present in the moment, in partnership with Aston Martin. This is captivating Islay: [weblink]”. An embedded video within the post featured different scenes of a man and a woman driving around Islay in an Aston Martin car visiting various places at different times of day and night. There was a mix of driving and non-driving scenes. Both individuals were shown driving the car at various points, with the other sitting in the passenger seat. One scene featured an image of the Bowmore distillery. In another scene, whisky was shown being poured into a bottle, followed by the characters holding glasses containing whisky and bringing them to their noses as though smelling the whisky and being about to taste it. Other scenes showed them in different places on the island at different points in time and wearing different outfits, including one scene where they were shown holding hands whilst in the car.
Issue
The complainant, a whisky researcher and writer, challenged whether the ad linked alcohol and driving and was therefore irresponsible.Response
Suntory Global Spirits UK Ltd t/a Bowmore Single Malt Whisky (Bowmore) and Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd t/a Aston Martin said there was no direct link between drinking alcohol and driving in the ad. They believed the scenes featuring alcohol would not be interpreted as directly chronological or linked to scenes featuring the vehicle and/or driving. The ad was divided into many parts, with the scenes jumping between different days/times and locations. Therefore, they believed any reasonable viewer would understand that those activities occurred at separate times.
They explained that Aston Martin, in partnership with Bowmore, offered consumers a “Captivating Islay” experience which comprised a chauffeur-driven tour of the Isle of Islay in an Aston Martin and a tour of Bowmore distillery, including food, refreshments and a tasting session.The ad was a story-telling film, one minute 36 seconds long, designed to promote the partnership and the experience. It featured characters visiting a number of locations over the course of several days, edited in a way that was non-chronological. The non-linear narrative was made clear to the viewer, as the characters were shown in a range of different outfits at various locations, in various weather conditions and at various times of day, over the course of what must have been several days. In a brief two-second sequence towards the end of the ad, the characters were shown in the distillery decanting whisky from a barrel, filling a glass bottle, and sitting and smelling the whisky without tasting it (the first distillery scene). They accepted that some viewers might infer that the couple had tasted the whisky, but said it had been a deliberate creative decision, by taking a responsible approach not to show the characters consuming the whisky. The sequences before the first distillery scene showed the Aston Martin driving away from the camera at night; the two characters standing in a wooded area, among bracken, in daytime; and the same two characters wandering on moorland, again in daytime. The actors were wearing different clothing in all of those scenes. Aston Martin and Bowmore considered that made it clear that it was not part of a linear narrative. They believed there was nothing in the ad to suggest that driving had taken place after whisky had been consumed. They pointed out that the characters were not shown driving to or from the Bowmore distillery and that they were wearing different outfits in the scenes immediately before and after the first distillery scene.In the shots following the first distillery scene, the man was shown running on the beach, the couple were then shown sitting harbourside with the Bowmore distillery in the background and were also shown leaning against the parked car on the beach. There were only two scenes that featured the car, following on from the first distillery scene. Both were brief, neither showed any driving and both were presented through lighting, clothing and sequencing as happening on a separate day or at a separate time. In each of those scenes, the couple were shown wearing different clothing to what they had worn in the distillery, indicating that those scenes occurred on a different day or time. None of the driving scenes in the ad occurred after the first distillery scene.The couple were then shown back in the wooded area taking a photo, holding hands in the car in close-up and embracing at night-time, before the woman was again shown, briefly, appraising a glass of whisky (the second distillery scene), after which the Bowmore and Aston Martin logos appeared on-screen and the background faded to black. They pointed out that the characters were not shown driving the car immediately before the second distillery scene and there were no further scenes featuring the car after that second distillery scene as that was the final shot. They therefore believed viewers were unlikely to conclude that the woman would have been driving after that scene.
Furthermore, in each of the driving scenes, the characters were either wearing different clothing to what they had worn at the distillery, or an external shot of the car was used (so viewers could not see what the characters were wearing). They believed those factors established a clear separation in time between the distillery visit and the driving scenes.They did not believe that driving was a strong focus of the ad. They acknowledged there were at least two scenes showing the car driving along the beach and at least four scenes showing the car driving along different roads. However, only 17 seconds out of the one minute 36 seconds of the ad showed driving and the ad contained 42 non-driving scenes, of which 32 did not feature the car at all. They also highlighted that alcohol was not seen inside the car at any point or alongside car keys, unlike some ads which had previously been investigated and upheld by the ASA.
Bowmore and Aston Martin said the ad had been removed.
Facebook said they had investigated the matter and confirmed that the content was no longer available in the UK.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketing communications that referred to alcoholic drinks must be socially responsible. It also stated they must not link alcohol with driving.The ad featured a sequence of scenes showing a couple in various places on the island of Islay at various times of the day or night, likely to be understood to take place over several days. The scenes were presented in a non-linear fashion, denoted by different weathers, locations and clothing. We also acknowledged that, in the two scenes featuring whisky being poured and appraised by the couple they were not seen drinking the whisky and the ad did not expressly show them driving after having consumed alcohol. We considered the ad did, however, imply that they were going to taste the whisky after appraising it, so viewers were likely to infer that the couple had consumed whisky as part of their experience.
We considered that driving was a strong focus of the ad, particularly in the context of a collaboration which was presented “in partnership with Aston Martin”, a well-known car brand. There were at least two scenes showing the car driving along the beach and at least four scenes showing the car driving along different roads. Some of the scenes featured the inside of the car and showed either the man or woman driving at different times. Other scenes showed the couple leaning against the car whilst on the beach. The scenes that featured the car were regular, even if collectively they made up a small portion of the ad, and in those scenes, the car was a prominent feature. We considered that because the scenes were not shown in a linear sequence, it was not clear to viewers at which point in time the various scenes ensued, and the ad did not give a clear indication that no driving had taken place after the distillery visit part of the experience when it was inferred that whisky was consumed. For example, it did not show the couple ending the day with the whisky tasting session and not being required to drive anywhere afterwards. We considered that given the brief individual scenes, their non-linear presentation and the fast-paced jumping between scenes, viewers were unlikely to notice that the characters were wearing different clothing at the distillery visit compared to in other scenes and that, of itself, did not provide a sufficiently clear separation between the driving scenes and the distillery visit. For those reasons, we considered there was not a clear separation between the couple driving in the ad and the whisky being poured and appraised, indicating that they were going to drink it. We therefore concluded that the ad linked alcohol with driving and was irresponsible.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 18.1 and 18.12 (Alcohol).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Suntory Global Spirits UK Ltd t/a Bowmore Single Malt Whisky and Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd to ensure that future ads did not irresponsibly link alcohol with driving.
