Strongbow and Jägermeister pull ads after complaints upheld

Strongbow and Jägermeister have withdrawn some social media ads after complaints over the way the brands presented their alcoholic drinks were upheld by a watchdog.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said two Jägermeister adverts implied that alcohol was “a key component of social success”, which it said was “irresponsible” and a breach of the broadcasting code.

It added a Strongbow ad should be banned on the grounds that it “implied that alcohol might be indispensable or take priority in life”.

Both brands accepted the ASA judgements, which were released on Wednesday.

The complaint in relation to Strongbow’s advert to the ASA was in relation to a sponsored Instagram post by comedian Al Nash, which featured the brand’s Strawberry cider.

The sketch appeared to be a parody of a scene in Spider Man where Norman Osborne, played by Willem Dafoe, is being taunted by his crazed alter ego, the Green Goblin.

Nash plays a character who skips a barbecue with his friends as he is trying to write his wedding vows. A talking can of Strongbow Strawberry Cider appears and goads him until he “succumb[s] to the pressure to attend the barbecue”, the ASA said.

In its ruling, the watchdog said it acknowledged that viewers would understand that the ad “parodied the common, internal conflict of choosing between social activities and personal responsibilities”.

But it said the ad “portrayed alcohol as being more important than personal relationships and a significant life event”.

This implied, the ASA added, that “alcohol was indispensable and took priority in life”.

Heineken UK Ltd, which owns Strongbow, agreed to remove the post and said the sketch was meant to entertain rather than make a literal claim about alcohol consumption.

Al Nash said in response to the complaint that the use of a talking can of cider was intended to parody a well-known scene from a Spider-Man film.

He said he believed the ad did not suggest that alcohol was essential or more important than personal commitments.

In a separate judgement, the ASA said the two Jagermeister ads were banned on the grounds that they portrayed alcohol as essential to a having successful social event and were “irresponsible”.

One social media advert showed a pair of cupped hands holding a bottle of Jagermeister Manifest alongside the caption: “Manifesting the best nights of your life. Get your bottle of Jägermeister Manifest.”

The other advert featured a metal cloche being lifted to show a bottle of Jagermeister on a silver platter. The caption said: “Jägermeister, serving the best night of your life.”

The ASA said the advert depicting the bottle of Jagermeister on a silver platter “contributed to the impression it was the defining factor of a successful social event”, breached the advertising code.

In its response to the judgement, Mast-Jägermeister UK Ltd said that Jägermeister Manifest was a product name, and the use of the term “manifesting” was intrinsically linked to that name.

It added that it accepted the ASA’s assessment and had withdrawn both ads.

The BBC has contacted Jagermeister and Heineken UK directly for comment.