Online beer retailer Beer52 has been rapped by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for a 38-minute YouTube video.
The watchdog said the promotional film encouraged excessive drinking, degradingly portrayed women, linked alcohol with seduction and implied alcohol was a key component of successful personal relationships, and featured a person in a significant role who appeared to be under 25.
Designed to promote Beer52’s Berliner Box product, the video featured a man sampling nine different craft beers while conversing with neighbours and a delivery man. The protagonist, Beer Buddy, instructed a female character to ‘piss off’, referred to a 4.7% beer as ‘breakfast beer’ and an 8.5% bottle as ‘traditional fighting beer’, made numerous references to sexual activity, and used a penis-shaped bottle opener.
Beer52 insisted the ad “aimed to promote responsible drinking” and to “poke fun at the stereotypes usually associated with beer advertising, which had a reputation for being misogynistic, promoting beer as a means of getting drunk instead of a craft product”.
Beer Buddy was not meant to be empathised with, and viewers were not expected to like or agree with his behaviour, the retailer claimed. It was told by the ASA to ensure future advertising was “socially responsible” and in line with the CAP code.
Beer52 has removed the video from YouTube and its website.
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