Au Vodka under fire over Love Island star’s TikTok post
A complaint against Au Vodka, claiming a TikTok ad posted by Love Island star Lucinda Strafford targeted people under 18 years old, has been upheld.
In a TikTok video posted in June, Strafford received a large gold-coloured vending machine from Au Vodka at her house.
Strafford can then be seen filling the branded vending machine with cans of Au Vodka Juicy Peach and using it for the first time, including drinking one of the cans and commenting, “That is so good”.
The text accompanying the post said: “An actual dream OMG [hearts emoji; peach emoji] unlimited Juicy Peach cans [smiling face with tears emoji] & I can keep it?! @Au Vodka ad.”
Two additional Au Vodka ads were also pulled into question, neither of which were posted by Strafford.
On 10 June, influencer Kai Cenat opened a box containing a bottle of Au Vodka, labelled ‘Kai Cenat Juicy Peach’, plus a glass. He was shown opening the bottle and drinking from the glass.
His accompanying text read: “Haven’t you tried Au Vodka yet? Secure the taste of summer, Au Vodka Juicy Peach [peach emoji] essences of summer in every sip. [Palm tree emoji.] Shop now pay later available [credit card emoji].”
Another paid-for ad on Facebook on 30 April, not by Strafford or Cenat, showed a video of a woman holding a drink. She said: “You need to try this.” The supporting text said: “Payday site-wide sale + extra 20% off [mind-blown emoji]. Use code PAYDAY20 [dollars emoji]. Shop now, pay later available [credit card emoji].”
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received two complaints, one asking whether the ad with Strafford was inappropriately targeting people under the legal drinking age in the UK (18 years old). The ASA challenged whether the two other ads breached the Code as they featured someone who appeared to be under 25 years old.
The complaints were upheld as the Code stipulates adverts featuring alcoholic drinks must not be directed at people under 18 years of age through the choice of social media or context in which they appear.
Furthermore, no platform should be used to advertise alcoholic drinks if more than 25% of the audience is under 18.
“We therefore expected to see evidence that Au Vodka has taken appropriate steps to limit the likelihood of children or young people seeing their ads,” the ASA said.
Regarding Strafford’s TikTok post, the ASA noted the minimum age to create a TikTok account was 13. Au Vodka and Strafford’s management supplied a screenshot showing her biggest follower demographic was aged 18-24 years old (50.9%), followed by those aged 25 to 34. However, there was no data for followers aged between 13 and 17.
For the ad with Cenat, as he was 23 years old – which Au Vodka said it knew before the post – it breached the ASA’s code as ads must not show people below 25 years old.
The third ad featuring the woman also turned out to be in breach of this age restriction, as she was only 24 years old.
The ASA said the ads must not appear again in their current form. Au Vodka was reminded to ensure their ads did not feature people who were, or looked to be, under 25 years old.
Last year, TikTok updated alcohol advertising policy to allow alcohol adverts on the platform, based on applicable local laws and regulations, including country-specific requirements.
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