The complaint related to an in-game ad for Mountain Dew Energy drink seen on various gaming apps, a video-sharing and a social media website.
The ad featured what appeared to be a teenager on a snowboard. The scene ended with the man falling headfirst on the ground, with text stating ‘don’t Dew this at home’.
PepsiCo said that the ad followed its previous advertising template that it had used in Mountain Dew advertising globally for a number of years, and had been well received by consumers and hadn’t resulted in complaints.
The company said: The ad was intended to be lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek and wasn’t intended to cause harm, offence or encourage emulation.
The ASA concluded that because the ad was seen in media, it was likely to have strong appeal to under-16s, and therefore it was irresponsible. PepsiCo has been told by the ASA not to use this ad in future.
Source: ASA
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