Diageo has been admonished by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for its latest Captain Morgan rum advert, after a national alcohol charity claimed that it promoted irresponsible drinking.
The Live Like the Captain campaign, which Diageo announced in May, saw a man with Captain Morgan’s face superimposed over his. He was then seen upending a sofa, swinging from a rope and posing at the bow of a ship. It encouraged consumers to take on the captain’s persona with the tagline “captain the night”.
But the charity Alcohol Concern, as well as one member of the public, argued that the advert implied that the success of social occasions was dependent on the presence of alcohol, and would lead to irresponsible drinking.
ASA rejected the former claim, acknowledging that the advert did not show a change in the man’s behaviour and did not present him as more confident or more popular than any of the other characters. It said that the atmosphere of the party did not appear to change on the character’s arrival.
But the UK’s advertising watchdog rejected Diageo’s defence on the latter count, saying that the superimposed face of Captain Morgan was inextricably linked to the brand, and that consumers would naturally assume the character had been drinking.
“While we agreed that the use of the captain’s face associated the character and his actions directly with the brand, we considered that viewers would equate the brand and the character with the product itself. Viewers were therefore likely to understand that the central figure’s behaviour resulted from his consumption of Captain Morgan rum,” ASA said.
It upheld the complaint and warned Diageo not to air the advert in its current state again.
The ASA ruling continued: “Although the ad did not explicitly depict drinking alcohol as resulting in a change in the central character’s behaviour in a ‘before and after’ scenario, we considered that the superimposed Captain Morgan face implied that he had already consumed the product and thus linked his confident behaviour to this consumption. We concluded that the ad implied that drinking alcohol could enhance personal qualities and was therefore irresponsible.”
And Julie Bramham, European marketing director for Captain Morgan, added: “We are disappointed with the ASA’s adjudication. Whilst we are pleased that the ASA chose to not uphold part of the complaint, we disagree with their interpretation on the rest of the ruling. No alcohol was pictured and the Captain Morgan face was designed to represent the brand as a whole and not intended to be linked to the consumption of alcohol. We believe that the advert illustrated camaraderie, enjoying time with friends and living life to the full whilst taking charge of a night out and staying in control.”
Watch the banned advert in full:
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