Watchdog bans gin adverts after complaints upheld

Online posts that carry “light-hearted” comments about gin have been banned by a watchdog for encouraging excessive drinking and making misleading claims.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints about 10 Facebook posts from The Scottish Gin Society seen in December 2017 and January this year.

One social media ad featured an image of a glass of gin and tonic and read: “This gin and tonic has 91 calories. A banana has 105 calories. My doctor told me to make the healthy choice.”

Another example was captioned: “The medicinal qualities of gin are never-ending it seems... All the more reason to make sure you’re stocked up!”.

It included embedded text and an image from an editorial post about period pain.

Other posts spoke about “making healthy choices”, referenced to an article about speeding up the metabolism, or suggested a man named “Bill” was smart for drinking gin instead of abstaining from alcohol during “dry January”.

Aberdeenshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership challenged whether the ads were irresponsible because they encouraged excessive drinking, implied alcohol had therapeutic qualities and questioned whether comparative nutrition claims complied with the relevant code.

The Scottish Gin Society said it did not consider the posts were advertisements and argued they did not fall within the code’s remit.

The ASA considered the posts fell within the code’s remit and upheld the complaints.

It ruled: “Although those viewing the posts would understand the intention behind them as light-hearted and humorous, we nonetheless considered they had the effect of... encouraging excessive drinking.”