ASA bans Southern Comfort Instagram ads

The UK’s advertising watchdog has banned two Instagram posts promoting Southern Comfort whiskey liqueur after they appeared to feature people under the age of 25.

Southern Comfort’s ads in the run up to Halloween were taken down after the ASA upheld two complaints

The UK’s Alcohol Standards Authority (ASA) has reprimanded two posts featuring the Sazerac-owned brand, which were designed to promote a ‘shark bite’ drink served over the week of Halloween (31 October) last year.

Southern Comfort hired UK-based blogger Francesca Perks and English musician Jack Remmington to develop their own version of the drink.

The post on Perks’ Instagram page on 29 October 2019 featured the caption: “AD. I can put my hand up and say I’m not a cocktail aficionado by any means, but boy do I love a slushie, so when @southerncomfortuk asked me to put a spin on a shark bite, I knew an adult slushie was the only route to take this down, so that my friends is what I present you with! Head over to my stories to [see (sic)] how I conjured up this frozen beauty!”

The post featured two images, which included one where the blogger was holding the cocktail, and another that showed the drink on a table with a bottle of Southern Comfort in the background.

Remmington’s Instagram post on 29 October 2019 included the caption: “#AD So my bezzie mate‘s fave drink in the world is Southern Comfort and we got creative with this Halloween inspired treat! Obvy cos it’s me I wanted to jazz it up and be extra, so have a gander over on my stories to see what we came up with. Let me know what you’d have added to the cocktail to make it extra special! Thank you @southerncomfortuk and @twisted for letting our imagination run wild (and for the beaut bev!).”

The post included two images, one that showed Remmington and a woman drinking a cocktail, while the other showed the cocktail next to a bottle of Southern Comfort.

Both posts have been challenged as to whether they feature someone who seemed to be, or who was, under the age of 25 years old.

Action taken

In the ruling, Southern Comfort said that Perks was 22 years old at the time the ad was posted. Upon receiving the complaint, the brand said it had requested for Perks to take down the post, which she removed after she was informed of the complaint by the ASA. Perks also said she would not engage in alcohol-related marketing that would break advertising rules in the future.

“While we welcomed Southern Comfort’s and Ms Perks’ actions to remove the ad once we had contacted them, we were concerned that the advertiser had chosen to work with someone who was under 25 years old,” the ASA noted.

In reference to Remmington’s post, Southern Comfort said both he and his friend who was depicted in the ad were 25 years old. This was confirmed by Remmington.

In its consideration, the ASA said that Perks, Remmington and his friend were the focus of the images. As such, the regulator regarded that they all played a significant role in the ads. The ASA also said it was clear they were drinking alcohol from the context of the ads.

As Remmington and his friend were both over the age of 25 when the ad was posted, the ASA assessed whether they seemed to be under that age in the ad. The ASA concluded that the post breached the code on that basis.

In conclusion, the ASA said the ads must not appear again in their current form.

The Spirits Business has contacted Southern Comfort owner Sazerac for further comment and is awaiting a response.