ASA Adjudication on Voodoo Events Ltd

Ad

A poster for a student night at a night club was headlined "LEEDS' BIGGEST STUDENT NIGHT!!" inside a yellow banner. Large central text read "THE VODKA PROJECT". Text in a second yellow banner at the bottom of the ad stated "£1 DRINKS ALL NIGHT". Text beneath that stated "WEDNESDAYS OCEAN".

Issue

The complainant objected that the ad was socially irresponsible because, by advertising cheap drinks all night, it was likely to encourage excessive consumption of alcohol.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Voodoo Events Ltd (Voodoo Events) said that the drinks market in Leeds, and in particular the mid-week student market, was extremely competitive, and that drinks priced at £1 or less were now commonplace from Sunday to Thursday. They said they were one of the leading companies in the city and they took responsible drinking seriously. They said all their promotional literature carried the drink aware logo and web address and the door staff at their events were briefed not to admit people whom they believed to be intoxicated. They said price-led promotions were common because events also faced competition from off licenses and supermarkets in the city which regularly ran national and local promotions selling bottles of beer for less than fifty pence and bottles of wine for under £3.

Voodoo Events said the purpose of their poster ad was to show that their event was competitively priced, but not ridiculously cheap. The said the billboard focussed on the day of the week, the brand name of the event and the venue as well as on the price of drinks. They said the only drinks on sale for £1 at the event were shots of vodka and shots of vodka shooters and that the rest of the drinks were £1.50 or above. They said the reason the drinks prices were advertised as all night was because some Leeds nightclubs had been criticised for advertising drinks promotions that only took place before a certain time, without informing the consumer of this before their arrival at the venue.

Voodoo Events said they believed venues throughout the country advertised cheap drinks. They said, in the present economic climate, competition was particularly fierce and believed they were a responsible operator dealing with the realities of the current market. They said the poster was being removed and replaced by a new campaign.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA noted Voodoo Events' explanation regarding the competitive drinks market in Leeds and also noted that only vodka and vodka shooters were on sale for £1 at the event whilst other drinks cost more.  However, we considered that the claim "£1 DRINKS ALL NIGHT", combined with the name of the event, "THE VODKA PROJECT", rather than promoting the appeal of a night out implied that the evening's main purpose or project was to consume cheap drinks all night. We concluded that the ad was socially irresponsible and could encourage excessive consumption of alcohol.

The ad breached CAP Code clause 2.2 (Social responsibility).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)