Diageo's Parrot Bay rum ad 'appeals to children' says ASA

By Helen Arnold

Published: 15 October, 2014

Diageo's latest TV ad for rum brand Parrot Bay has fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which deemed it to be irresponsible as it appealed to children and breached the code. The advert must not appear again in its current form.

The advert for the alcoholic frozen cocktail drink was screened on Film4 and featured a colourful animated parrot who was shown being frozen and squawking. On screen text stated, 'Freeze a parrot today ... contains alcohol.'

rum Diageo has been rapped on the knuckles by the ASA for its Parrot Bay TV adThe ASA says the advert was irresponsible as it was 'likely to appeal to children'.

The complainant believed the ad would appeal strongly to children, and this was upheld by the ASA who said that the parrot and its behaviour, including its 'slapstick humour, moving its eyes in a comical fashion and falling off the bar' was likely to strongly appeal to children.

In its defence, Diageo said it was clear the ad was aimed at adults, saying that the setting was a Caribbean beach bar with a mature looking bartender and adult couples in the scene.

"We are disappointed with the ASA Council's adjudication and will be appealing against the decision," said Diageo Western Europe's consumer marketing and innovation director Ed Pilkington. "We will be liaising with the ASA and will await the decision of the independent review process."

This is not the first time this year that Diageo have had a run in with the ASA. In July the Youth Alcohol Advertising Council (YAAC) objected to a picture posted by Captain Morgan on their Facebook page. Text at the top of the image stated "Wednesday, I'm declaring war on mid-week boredom." The YAAC challenged whether the ad was irresponsible, because it implied that alcohol could overcome boredom. The complaint was upheld.

And in February Diageo had its knuckles rapped over a TV ad for Captain Morgan in which the ASA said that Diageo's future advertising must not link alcohol with daringness or toughness.

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