ASA Adjudication on Fuller Smith & Turner plc

Ad

A regional press ad, for Fuller's London Pride ale, was headlined "ONCE MORE INTO THE BREACH, dear friends ONCE MORE". An image of a rugby post was shown below; further text stated "SUPPORT ENGLISH RUGBY".

Issue

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) objected that the ad implied that Fuller's London Pride was an official sponsor endorsed by the England rugby team.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Fuller Smith and Turner plc (Fuller) said they took great care with their advertising; the ethos of the company was summarised by the famous phrase, "Whatever you do.  Take Pride".  They sponsored several sporting events and agreed that official sponsors, who sought to profit from the exclusivity of a sponsorship arrangement, had important rights.  Official sponsors, for example, had the right to use the organiser's trademark and refer to themselves as an "official partner" or "official sponsor" of the event.  That exclusivity had limits, however, and did not mean that no other advertising could take place that referred to a particular sport, competition or event.

Although Fuller was not an official sponsor of the RFU, they had a long history of supporting sporting events both formally and informally.  Many of their customers were keen players or followers of sport; their products were often consumed by those watching sport.  They said supporting sport at a local or national level was aligned with their brand values of fair play, team sociability, endeavour and pride in achievements.  They had used the text "SUPPORT ENGLISH RUGBY" since at least 1999 and were the official beer of several English rugby clubs and competitions, as well as of other English sports.  The ad was part of a campaign that had run in various forms during a range of competitions.  It was placed in publications designed to appeal to their target audience, i.e. men who enjoyed sports such as rugby.  It was intended to invoke a sense of national pride and enthusiasm for rugby during the Six Nations championship, which was well loved by a cross section of the public and therefore became a general talking point.  

Fuller believed there was nothing in the ad to suggest Fuller's London Pride was the official beer of the England rugby team.  The closest term used was "SUPPORT ENGLISH RUGBY", which was a general statement about the game of rugby played in England; it did not imply a reference to the England rugby team.  They accepted that "SUPPORT ENGLISH RUGBY" was likely to carry the implication 'like we do' but did not believe that "ENGLISH RUGBY" was the same as the 'England rugby team' or that "SUPPORT" had the same implications as 'sponsor'.  Many fans, for example, would consider themselves supporters of the team without entering into a financial arrangement with them.  Fullers also felt the text "ONCE MORE INTO THE BREACH, dear friends ONCE MORE" would not be interpreted as a reference to the start of the England rugby team's Six Nations campaign. The well-known Shakespeare text was intended only to encourage patriotism and pride.  They felt consumers would have to pass through a series of assumptions about the ad to be misled; that was unlikely to happen and indeed there was no evidence that members of the public, who would easily recognise the difference between the ad and those of official sponsors, had been misled.  

The ad was distinguished from those of official sponsors by the fact that it did not refer to the England rugby team, to the Six Nations competition or to the times or locations of any of the England rugby team's matches; it did not use the England rugby team's colours or logo and did not include any statement of official sponsorship or link with the team.  An ad by the official sponsor that appeared in the same publication carried those features as well as images of the England rugby team.  Anyone who had read the magazine would be aware of such cues and would be clear about the status of the official sponsor. In that context consumers would not be misled into thinking that the ad implied that Fuller was an official sponsor because the impression was the reverse.  Apart from the colour image of the product the ad was black and white and the only image used was of rugby posts, which were common to all rugby games and not just those played by the England rugby team.  They sent a press article that praised the ad for evoking national pride as well as examples of other ads placed by official sponsors of sporting events or teams and examples of their own ads, which were placed in the context of sporting events but did not imply sponsorship or endorsement.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted the specific features that official sponsors were likely to include in their advertising, such as the claims "official partner" or "official sponsor", were not included in the ad.  We considered that readers were unlikely to be misled into thinking that Fullers were an official sponsor or partner of the England rugby team. They would expect an advertiser to state if they were an official sponsor and the ad did not claim that Fullers were.  We also considered that the text "SUPPORT ENGLISH RUGBY" was not misleading, because Fullers did support English rugby as a sport and had done for several years.   We concluded that the ad was not misleading and did not take unfair advantage of the reputation of the England rugby team.  

We investigated the ad under CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness), 14.7 (Testimonials and endorsements) and 20.2 (Denigration and unfair advantage) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)