‘Irresponsible’ Jägermeister ad banned in UK

Jägermeister has been forced to pull it first ever UK TV advertisement over claims it linked alcohol with “tough and daring behaviour”.

Jägermeister’s first television advertisement in the UK has been banned by the ASA

UK regulatory body the Adverting Standards Authority (ASA) received a complaint from the Youth Advertising Council who challenged whether a new Jägermeister television advertisement was irresponsible.

The council claimed that the advertisement linked alcohol with tough and daring behaviour, encouraged irresponsible and immoderate drinking, and implied that alcohol was the key to social success.

Jägermeister launched the Journey to Surf advertisement, its first to air in the UK, in March this year as part of a bid to promote its ice-cold shot serve to 18 to 35-year-olds.

The advertisement features a group of male friends embarking on an adventurous journey in Iceland, travelling through snowy mountains and surfing large waves. The men then return to a log cabin and drink a shot of Jagermeister from a frozen glass as a voiceover states “Jagermeister. It runs deep”.

Mast-Jägermeister UK Ltd said that the actions of the men in the video were “in no way irresponsible” and that they were not depicted consuming alcohol before they started surfing.

The group said it believed the story was focused on friendship and brotherhood, rather than one of daring or tough behaviour. Clearcast said they had considered the issue very carefully when approving the ad and believed it to be compliant with the advertising code.

Jägermeister also said that since the friends were only shown to consume a single shot, the ad promoted a sensible form of consumption and was not excessive.

It also argued that the advert did not imply alcohol was the key to social success since the men depicted were clearly “good friends from the outset”.

The ASA therefore decided to not uphold the complaint that the ad neither encouraged irresponsible drinking or implied alcohol was the key to social success.

Ad deemed ‘irresponsible’ 

However, the regulator did uphold the complaint that the ad linked alcohol with tough and daring behaviour. The ASA claimed that the advertisement depicted the men undertaking activities it would “consider to be potentially dangerous” and which “required skill and daring”.

The ASA said that while the men were not shown to consume alcohol before undertaking the activities, the ad “featured both alcohol, and physically demanding and challenging activities”, and as such made a clear association between alcohol and tough and daring behaviour.

It therefore ruled that the advertisement was “irresponsible” and banned it from being broadcast again in its current form.

Last week, Diageo was hit with a second advertising ban for its Captain Morgan rum brand this year.