ASA ruling is responsible nonsense
“Had a great evening – maybe a few too many, thanks to the tasty drinks, and have woken with the mother of all hangovers!”
Anyone put something similar on your venue’s Facebook page?
It seems innocuous enough and even if it isn’t, you can’t stop people posting what they like about your venue online, as anyone who has come a cropper on the dreaded Trip Advisor will know.
Well, according to the Advertising Standards Authority, you must.
Drinks company Hi-Spirits got wrapped over the knuckles last week (for the second time this year) over a Facebook page for its Fireball Whisky brand.
Hi-Spirits had asked: “What are your Fireball stories from the weekend (or any weekend)?” to which responses included a handful like this one: ““Went back to the bar so many times for some Fireball and Apple Juice, the guy sold me the bottle so I could have it at my table instead. Fair to say, my memory is hazy. Woke up hugging said bottle, and my shoes in the shower”;
Hi-Spirits said it felt that not only did the question not invite stories of excess but that to remove the comments would be tantamount to censorship. The ASA did not agree.
It is a worrying precedent, the logical conclusion of which means that anyone suggesting on your Facebook page they had one too many in your pub, would make you an irresponsible retailer.
“What a night! Three units of alcohol, five glasses of water, a beetroot & broccoli salad and bed for 10pm,” just doesn’t have the same ring to it does it?
