ASA Adjudication on Wm Magners Ltd

Ad

A poster, which appeared on underground trains, for Magners cider. The poster showed a photograph of a man in an orchard; text stated "Feck off bees 'We have beehives. The beekeepers come and they leave the bees here, in the open orchards. I like to walk by the lake at lunch. The bees buzz my bald patch. We need the bees for pollination. Personally, I don't like bees.' Thomas White Orchard Keeper".

Issue

The complainant objected that the phrase "Feck off" was offensive, especially because it appeared on a poster and could therefore be seen by children.  

CAP Code

Response

Wm Magners Ltd (Magners) said they were a locally operated company with generations of one family having worked for them.  They said the poster was part of a series intended to bring those local heroes to the fore and celebrate their contribution to the Magners story, using their own images and their own stories. Magners said the claim Feck off bees was not intended to offend but was intended to be true to the storyteller, an orchard keeper in his sixties, and was merely a mild rebuff to the bees.  They argued that the image was meditative and did not seek to shout or be upsetting in any way.

Magners argued that the term feck had been in usage since the 1800s and, in Ireland, the term was used in informal, everyday colloquial conversation with different meanings. They said it could be used to mean "to steal", "to throw" or "to leave hastily".

Magners also pointed out that the poster had originally appeared in May without any complaints and believed the fact that only one complaint had now been received following the posters appearance in October, meant the general public had taken it in the tone it was intended.

Assessment

Not upheld

The ASA noted Magners' comments about the use of the word "feck" in Ireland. We considered that the use of the word 'feck' in Britain had been popularised by TV programmes such as 'Father Ted'. We also considered that the tone of the ad was not aggressive or threatening. We considered that the term 'feck' was unlikely to be seen as a swearword and the poster was therefore unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence to adults and was not unsuitable for a medium where it could be seen by children.

We investigated the poster under CAP Code clause 5.1 (Decency) but did not find it in breach.

Action

No further action necessary.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)