The advert, which involves a sports coach giving a motivational team talk to a group of men before a night out, was heard by the complainant in December 2011.
The man is heard telling the group: “... gentlemen, there is nothing special about tonight ... tonight is underrated. Tonight is free of expectation. Tonight you cannot be disappointed, it’s just another night. That’s why tonight could be the greatest night of your life.
“Because it’s on nights like tonight that you end up at a party and you don’t know a single person who’s carrying you on their shoulders. It’s on nights like tonight when you wanna bring your passport, just in case. Gentlemen, you were conceived on a night like tonight.
“So tonight, before going out for that ice cold Budweiser, you put in that extra two minutes in front of the mirror. Because you never know who you’re going to meet ... So raise your bottles of Budweiser high in the air and make a toast to tonight. Now get out there, great times are waiting. Say it with me now ...”
AB InBev said they were fully committed to the responsible marketing of their products and claimed that the advert did not directly link the consumption of alcohol to sexual success.
It added in its response that there were only two references to alcohol in the advert, which came towards the end of the man’s speech, and that the the first reference was purely incidental, with the second linked to “non-contentious” behaviour associated with alcohol (as an accompaniment to a toast).
Whilst the ASA noted the ad “was intended to capture a positive attitude and enjoyment of time spent with friends”, it considered “the tone of the ad was such that it was likely to be interpreted as reflecting a sense of anticipation ahead of an evening where alcohol would be drunk”.
ASA continued that the advert “suggested that it was on such nights that unexpected and significant events, including conception, could take place.” It therefore concluded that the advert linked alcohol to sexual success and therefore breached rule 19.6 (Alcohol) of the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP).