ASA Adjudication on Halewood International Ltd

Ad

A TV ad, for Lambrini alcoholic drink, showed different groups of young women dancing energetically in different locations, including a living room, an office, a room being decorated, a clothes shop, a gym and a hospital corridor; the women in the corridor where dressed in surgical scrubs. The last shot showed two women throwing themselves onto a sofa and a third woman handing each of them a glass of the product. A female voice-over stated "Just wanna dance? Do the Lambrini"; on-screen text stated “dothelambrini.co.uk”.

Issue

1. Two viewers challenged whether the ad implied that alcohol had given the women confidence and enhanced their dancing performance.

2. One viewer, who believed the ad implied the women had all drunk Lambrini before dancing, challenged whether the ad showed that people had consumed alcohol in a working environment; in particular an office and a hospital.

BCAP TV Code

Response

1. & 2. Halewood said they had worked closely with the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) to ensure compliance with the letter and spirit of the Code.  They pointed out that the subject matter of the ad, Lambrini, was not revealed until the end of the ad which they believed prevented any immediate association between the product and dancing.  They also pointed out that the product was not shown on screen during the dancing scenes and said they had made a conscious decision not to show any consumption of the product before or during the dancing scenes.  They asserted that there was no suggestion or implication that consumption of the product had enhanced any individuals dancing or given them confidence. They argued that the only implication that might be taken from the ad, particularly because the product was shown being consumed only in a living room after the women had finished dancing, was that, after exerting oneself by dancing, an individual may find Lambrini refreshing.

Halewood argued that the dance routine was very sophisticated and demanded incredible poise and timing and could not be performed properly under the influence of alcohol. They asserted that the women were in complete control and did not look like they were under the influence of alcohol.  They asserted that the ad merely showed slices of life during which confident, fun women chose to dance and that the ad suggested that those confident people liked to drink Lambrini but that the converse was not true: the ad did not suggest that it was Lambrini that had made the dancers confident.

Halewood pointed out that the ad did not show alcohol being drunk in a working environment and argued that the dancers were not shown as being under the influence of alcohol.  They said they had been careful to ensure that the scenarios shown in the ad were not unsafe and did not encourage irresponsible drinking or feature drinking in an inappropriate environment. They said they had purposefully placed the women in working and other environments that were not associated with drinking (a gym class, decorating and a hospital) to make it clear that alcohol had not been consumed before or during the dancing.

The BACC said they had worked closely with Halewood throughout the clearance process. They believed the music was important and said they had advised them on which dancers they felt might be too young and which dance moves could be problematic. They believed the tone of the ad was one of female camaraderie in the form of well-rehearsed, synchronized movements that could never be associated with being under the influence of alcohol. They believed the ads had the feel of a 1950s musical extravaganza and did not feel firmly based in real life.

The BACC believed it was clear that no one had consumed alcohol and none of the actresses appeared under the influence of alcohol. They believed the women all appeared to be very agile and in control in order to perform such choreographed moves.

Assessment

1. Not upheld

The ASA noted the ad did not show consumption of alcohol before or during the dancing scenes and that the only time the product was shown was in a living room after the women had finished dancing. We also noted Halewoods argument that the dance routine demanded incredible poise and timing and could not be performed properly under the influence of alcohol. We considered that none of the women appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and that the ad did not imply that the women had been drinking alcohol before dancing but merely that they liked to dance and liked to drink Lambrini after they had been dancing.  We understood that Halewood had named the specific dance the women were doing as the "Lambrini" and that the website named in the ad gave visitors the opportunity to learn the moves to the "Lambrini" dance. We considered therefore that the claim "Just wanna dance?  Do the Lambrini" was merely intended to encourage women to visit the website and learn the "Lambrini" dancing performance; it did not suggest that consumption of Lambrini would enhance peoples dancing. We concluded that the ad did not imply that consumption of alcohol had contributed to the womens confidence or enhanced their dancing performance.

On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 11.8.1(a) and 11.8.1(e) but did not find it in breach.

2. Not upheld

We noted Halewoods argument that they had purposefully placed the women in working and other environments that they believed were not associated with drinking. We noted the ad did not show any women consuming alcohol in the working environment, even after dancing, and considered that viewers were unlikely to infer that the women shown in a working environment had consumed alcohol. We considered the ad merely implied that the women liked dancing and, after working, enjoyed Lambrini. We concluded that the ad did not imply that people had consumed alcohol in a working environment.

On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rule 11.8.2 (d) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)