Advertising Agency: JWT London
Media: Print
Sector: Alcoholic beverages
Client: Shepherd Neame (Bishop's Finger)
Year: 2006
According to the ASA, "We considered that the text 'I love a good session on the Bishops Finger' played on the connotations of drinking and sexual activity. We considered that the woman's pose was suggestive and concluded that, in combination with the headline text, it was likely to be seen as linking alcohol with seduction and sexual activity.
On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clause 56.9 (Alcoholic drinks)."
A medieval wench sitting on a stool with the tagline "I love a good session on the Bishop's Finger" along with "At 5.4% it's near the knuckle". Nothing wrong with that! In this instance it's probably safe to say that the complainees have had a bit of a lapse in humour and had to spoil it for everyone else. It's one of those occasions where you read into it what you want, and I think whoever was responsible for complaining about it has a bit of a guilty conscience...
The problem is that any advertising for alcohol needs to follow strict guidelines. Basically a company isn't allowed to sell the message that drinking alcohol will make you more appealing in some way because it's unethical so in this case the advert is saying "drink this and it will enhance your sexuality". If you list the reasons that drinkers provide for drinking - to relax, to be more confident, to make friends, to lose inhibitions etc - these are exactly the things that alcohol adverts are not allowed to promote. Alcohol is a poison and is unhealthy which is why it's unethical to use these motives for drinking to encourage even more drinking. Therefore alcohol advertisers have the challenge of getting these messages across but in ways that are not explicit enough to get their advert banned.
ReplyDeleteI also love a good session on the Bishop's Finger.
ReplyDeleteBut yes, +1 to what Jenny said. It's a shame that advertisers need to have such rulings placed on them, but it's most likely for the best - people are known to be a little thick, and trust adverts with an implicitness you can't justify.