ASA Adjudication on The 3D Entertainment Group Ltd

Ad

A radio ad included background music and the sound of people clapping as if in a bar. A man said "Excuse me, can I buy you a drink?" and a woman replied "Yeah OK thanks". The man then said "And how about your mate?" to which the woman replied "Yeah great". The man continued, "And her mate?" and the woman again replied "Why not?" A voice-over then stated "Make the most of January with Chicago Rock Café's green cross sale. Every Friday every drink is just 99p up until 11pm".

Issue

A listener complained that the ad was irresponsible because it encouraged binge drinking.

BCAP Radio Code

Response

3D Entertainment Group Ltd said the ad was broadcast on New Norfolk Radio and prepared on their behalf by the radio station.

Global Radio UK Ltd (Global Radio), the Ofcom Licensee for New Norfolk Radio, said they appreciated that the CAP (Broadcast) Radio Advertising Standards Code urged caution with regard to drinks offers.  They noted the Code forbade the encouragement of both excessive drinking and the buying of 'rounds' of drinks but said the ad did neither of those.  They maintained that, although it contained references to buying a drink for several people, the ad did not advocate the buying of 'rounds' in any way or that the buying of drinks for multiple people would be repeated.  Global Radio added that, following the initial broadcast of the ad and before they were made aware of the complaint, they had obtained clearance for it from the Radio Advertising Clearance Centre (RACC) with no restrictions.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted the ad did not refer specifically to alcoholic drinks.  It featured no indication that the drinks being bought would be reciprocated in a round and only one drink was bought for each of the women.  We considered that the message of the ad was that the price of drinks was such that it enabled the man to be generous and offer to buy drinks for several people. We considered that the ad did not encourage excessive drinking or the buying of alcoholic rounds.  We concluded that the ad was not in breach of the Code.

We investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) Radio Advertising Standards Code rules 3- 11.3 (Unacceptable Treatments), 3 - 11.5 (Sales Promotions) and 3 - 16 (Cut-price Offers) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)