Welsh spirits brand Au Vodka has criticised the decision to ban three of its social media posts for linking alcohol with “tough and aggressive behaviour” and illicit drugs.
It said “at no point” did its Instagram posts – advertising its Pink Lemonade vodka variant – “encourage irresponsible and/or aggressive behaviour” or portray the product as “associated with, or dependent upon, illicit drug use”.
“Our target consumers understood the intention behind our campaign ads – the ads were very well received, with no direct consumer complaints having been made,” a spokesperson for Au Vodka told The Grocer.
In total, three videos were investigated and deemed to have breached the ASA’s code – one for linking alcohol with illicit drugs, and two for implying connection between alcohol and “tough and daring people and behaviour”.
The videos have all since been removed from Au Vodka’s Instagram page.
One video posted on 5 April, and featuring the rapper Clavish, made “several references to illicit drugs through the imagery and phrases used”, the ASA said.
It pointed to footage of people “tending to lemon trees… under heat lamps” and on-screen text that stated “Street name: Pink Lemo” as examples.
The ad also featured a man who said, “now we just got to get rid of all the gear”.
Au Vodka said in its defence that the word gear had “various meanings” and could be used in different contexts “such as referring to equipment or clothing”.
The two further banned videos featured characters titled “The Enforcers” who were shown hitting and shouting at people wearing balaclavas.
They also featured “The Distributor”, who the voiceover described as being someone “who scares his own [bleep] shadow”.
The ASA said the characters were depicted as people who “engaged in aggressive behaviour”.
Au Vodka, however, said the campaign was “merely a comedic sketch” and did not “present alcohol consumption as a prerequisite for toughness or daringness”.
Calls for ASA overhaul
The brand called for an overhaul of the ASA’s approach, as currently it had “very little clarity” on how to conduct its campaigns.
“It is crucial for the ASA to recognise the shifting landscape of both marketing strategies and consumer perspectives in our industry,” it said.
“We expect advertisers to take care to market their products cautiously,” said ASA senior media officer Toby King. “In this case, we found the ads linked alcohol to violent behaviour through showing various tough characters that played on American Mafia stereotypes.
“We also noted that the ads showed lemons being grown in a style similar to drug production. Because they linked alcohol to both aggressive behaviour and illicit drugs, we banned these ads, and they must not run again in the current form.”
The bans are the second time in less than a month Au Vodka has been rapped by the ASA. In July, it was found to have breached the watchdog’s code by resharing a user-generated post on X (formerly Twitter) which linked alcohol with driving.
The disruptor spirit brand was also this week found in breach of The Portman Group’s guidelines over a piece of branded merchandise in the shape of a gun.
The body’s independent panel found the product “created an indirect association with violent and aggressive behaviour” because of its similar appearance to that of a real firearm.
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