Alcohol Concern has renewed calls for tougher advertising regulations after a TV ad for the Let There Be beer marketing campaign was banned by advertising watchdogs.

The Advertising Standards Authority this week said the ad - part of the generic campaign by five major breweries to boost the ailing beer category - could not be shown again in its current form. Launched in the summer, the ad featured stories including a host tending a barbecue and a man meeting his girlfriend’s dad.

Let There Be Beer organisers the Coalition of UK Brewers argued the ad was meant to be light-hearted and an exaggeration of the real world, but the ASA upheld a four-count complaint by Alcohol Concern’s Youth Alcohol Advertising Council, a group of young people who review alcohol ads and complain to the ASA when they feel content is irresponsible.

The authority agreed that the ad: implied alcohol could contribute to an individual’s popularity implied drinking alcohol was a key component of social success portrayed alcohol as indispensable and that drinking could overcome problems.

Alcohol Concern said the situation was a “perfect example of the failings of alcohol advertising regulation”. “Most of the British beer industry, with its enormous financial weight, legal advice and expertise approved this advert for viewing yet it broke four different rules,” said Alcohol Concern policy programme manager Tom Smith.

This summer, the charity called for tough measures to “protect” children and young people, including a ban on lifestyle images of drinkers or scenes that glamourised drinking, and the appointment of an independent regulator with the power to fine.

The Coalition of UK Brewers claimed it had received no consumer complaints about the ad.

Topics