Both companies were challenged separately by The Youth Alcohol Advertising Council (YAAC), but the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) did not uphold any of the complaints.
The YAAC questioned whether a YouTube-aired Kronenbourg ad that featured ex-footballer Eric Cantona had implied that alcohol could “enhance confidence”, had “therapeutic qualities” and was “capable of changing mood, physical condition or behaviour”.
ASA ruling
Cantona played a fictional character and was accompanied by two dogs who wore barrels of the beer around their necks, and delivered Kronenbourg to the “deserving”.
One scenario showed a church bell-ringing monk becoming entangled in ropes before the dogs set him free and gift him a complimentary pint of the beer, while another showed a postman trapped in a snow drift before being rescued.
In its ruling, ASA stated that any improvement in mood was due to the men’s relief at “having been rescued from unpleasant situations, coupled with their gratitude at having received an unexpected gift of a free beer”.
“Because the beer was consumed at the very end of the scenes after the rescues had taken place, there was no suggestion that it was the consumption of the beer, rather than the act of being rescued, that had improved their mood,” the ASA said.
Use of emojis
Separately, the YAAC also unsuccessfully challenged what it deemed an "irresponsible" ad on the Twitter feed of @WKDOfficial.
It claimed the use of emojis was “likely to appeal particularly to people under 18 years of age”.
The Twitter post stated: “Our WKD tech team is trying to make your emoji dreams a reality” above an image of a phone screen showing an exchange of messages that featured emojis.
The ASA concluded emojis were likely to have “appeal across many age groups” and “considered they were not likely to have particular appeal to under-18s by reflecting or being associated with youth culture.”