Sheps blasted over latest WWII-themed adverts
Shepherd Neame has landed in hot water following the latest advert in its "Bottle of Britain" series.
The Faversham-based brewer has run the tongue-in-cheek Second World War-themed advertising for Spitfire for eight years, but it appears its new advert, featuring the symbol of Hitler's personal bodyguards, the SS, has gone too far for some tastes.
The appearance of the advert in the Evening Standard on December 15 led to four complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
The advert itself showed a crossword clue, asking: "German beer (4) _ _ S S" with the SS in the lightning bolt shape which symbolised Hitler's personal army.
The case is now under adjudication, but a result is not expected for another week. Shepherd Neame has withdrawn the advert for the time being and will not decide on its future until the ASA makes its decision.
A Shepherd Neame spokesperson commented: "The Spitfire 'Bottle of Britain' campaign has run for eight years and will continue. Over 80 different ads have been used in the campaign and none of them have been found to be in breach of the ASA code.
"The vast majority of people recognise that the adverts are designed to amuse and not to offend. The advertisement in question has appeared once and there are no plans to repeat it. We apologise for any offence we may have caused in this instance."
The campaign has raised almost £100,000 for the RAF Benevolent Fund and many other charities and veterans' groups.
Mayor's Spitfire comments denied
Comments attributed to mayor of London Ken Livingstone in a story in the Daily Telegraph this week suggesting the new advert was "astonishingly evil" and that Spitfire was a "mediocre beer", have proved to be erroneous. The comments appeared in December on an unofficial Mayor of London website. A spokeswoman for the mayor's office told The Publican the comments were not attributable to the mayor.
