Strongbow ad banned for being portrayed as 'indispensable'

Advert for Heineken's Strongbow (ASA)

An ad for Heineken's Strongbow cider has been banned for implying that alcohol is more important than personal relationships.

The ad on Strongbow's YouTube channel was based around a spoof awards ceremony with a winning category called "best Strongbow as my other half", and showed a picture of the winner "Carl" holding a can of the cider in front of his face.

A message read out on "Carl's" behalf said: "I dedicate this award to my family, to all the lovely creatures out there, and to my other half. I love you. I've loved you since the first day I met ya. And I always will do. My dear Strongbow."

The Youth Alcohol Advertising Council (YAAC), supported by Alcohol Concern, complained that the ad portrayed alcohol as indispensable or as taking priority in life.

Heineken said it strongly believed it was clear to viewers that the ad was a parody of award ceremonies and it could not be reasonably inferred that alcohol consumption took priority in life or was indispensable.

This was the only complaint they had received about the campaign, but the series of ads had been removed from the channel.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the ad implied that Strongbow was as important to Carl as a significant romantic relationship with another person.

The ASA said: "For those reasons, we considered the ad implied that alcohol was as important as, if not more important than, personal relationships and therefore was portrayed as being indispensable and taking priority in life.

"We concluded that the ad breached the code and we welcomed Heineken's confirmation that it had already been removed."