ASA rejects complaints against ad for Stella 4%

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has cleared a television campaign for Stella Artois 4% after complaints from an alcohol abuse charity that the ad linked alcohol with seduction and daring behaviour.

The ad, created by Mother, is set in the French Riviera in the Sixties and shows a young man rubbing sun cream into a woman’s shoulders as she lies by the pool. The man makes a slick getaway despite falling backwards over a balcony after being caught by the woman’s husband while the voiceover states “triple filtered with a smooth outcome”.

Alcohol Concern says that the ad linked alcohol with sexual success and seduction as well as daring and/or aggressive behaviour.

However, the watchdog says though the young man’s behaviour could be considered flirtatious most viewers are unlikely to consider his behaviour sexual or seductive.

It adds the “spoof nature” of the ad meant viewers are unlikely to see the young man’s behaviour as daring or aggressive and that there is no suggestion that he had been drinking prior to his fall.

Meanwhile, a television ad for the DVD “Wanted”, which stars Angelina Jolie, has been banned by the watchdog because it glamorised the use of guns and was inappropriately scheduled to run on Sunday mornings when children were likely to be watching.

The ASA says the ad’s ex-kids restriction is insufficient as the “inappropriate” spot means it could still be seen by older children.