Alcohol

The advertising was seen on the advertisers’ Instagram and consisted of three separate posts, each featuring an image with onscreen text and a caption beneath.

Post 1:
At the top of the first image, onscreen text stated, “when somebody asks who wants to go get a Four Loko Pink Melon?”. Beneath this, a baby in a nappy was depicted with their hand raised. The caption below the photograph said, “Meeeeee 🙋”.

Post 2:
The second image was a period painting depicting a woman holding a baby over a crib while displaying the baby to two other young children. Onscreen text read, “Goodnight, Pink Melon Four Loko The Third”. The caption beneath photograph said, “It’s not easy carrying the alcohol industry, but we do it well 😏. Pink Melon is COMING SOON 🍉”.

Post 3:
Onscreen text at the top of the third image said, “How I sleep knowing I get to drink Four Loko all weekend”. Beneath this was a photograph of the character, Squidward from the children’s animated television series, ‘Spongebob Squarepants’, tucked up in bed asleep with a teddy bear beside him. The caption beneath this photograph stated, “Thursday has us thinking about one thing and one thing only…”

Two issues were identified within the complaint:

Issue 1:
The complainant considered it inappropriate to use images depicting children, as well as a cartoon character, to promote a high strength alcoholic beverage.

Issue 2:
The complainant considered that the onscreen text in the third image, “How I sleep knowing I get to drink Four Loko all weekend”, encouraged irresponsible drinking.

The advertisers said that the posts in question were not advertisements as there was no spend behind them.

While not specifically addressing the content of the complaint, they said that they always aimed to be compliant with ASA guidelines regarding alcohol content. As such, the advertisers said that they have removed the content in question and would avoid posting anything like this moving forward.

The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response. The Committee noted that the Instagram posts had been removed, as well as the undertaking that similar posts would not be published in future.

The Complaints Committee confirmed that the material complained about was commercial marketing communications for the purpose of the Code.

Issue 1: Upheld.

The Committee noted that the first two images featured people who were significantly under the age of 25 and that the third image depicted a cartoon character who was associated with youth culture and would therefore have a particular appeal to children. In light of this, the Committee considered that the posts were in breach of Code sections 9.07(a), (b) and (d).”

Issue 2: Upheld.

“The Committee expressed concern at the wording used in the third post which they considered implied over consumption of alcohol (“How I sleep knowing I get to drink Four Loko all weekend”). In light of this, the Complaints Committee considered that this issue of the complaint was in breach of ASA Code sections 3.03, 9.1 qnd 9.8a.”