The poster, put up by Five & Lime bar, Guildford, was described as the “most honest job ad” by an amused tweeter.
The tongue-in-cheek job description offers a “demeaning work programme, mediocre pay, horrendous hours, lousy work conditions, practically no benefits whatsoever and strictly no social life”.
Light-hearted intention
Potential candidates are then encouraged to ask for more information at the bar.
The Morning Advertiser understands that in spite of the description, the bar has had more responses from people looking for work due to the poster wording than for any other poster adverts.
When pub advertising goes too far
August has seen a spree of unusual advertising campaigns, including at the Southern Cross in Middlesbrough, which displayed a blackboard with the message in bold, appearing to read, “naked waitresses flirt with you”.
However, the message was misleading as the main words were in bold and larger than other words in the text, so it actually read, “the naked truth about our waitresses is they only flirt with you to get a better tip”. The bar’s spokesman claimed this was also intended to be “light-hearted”.
Others have included the George Pub and Grill, in Stockton, County Durham, which was slammed for an “appalling advert” posted on its Facebook page, which asked "Would you punch your ex in the face?" in exchange for a snack.
Be prepared
Although the ASA does not have any rules for pubs specifically, it said it expects all advertisers to prepare their ads with a sense of “responsibility to consumers and society”.
When making a decision on whether an advert was likely to cause widespread offence, the ASA takes into account: the audience that is likely to see it; the context in which it appears; the product it is promoting; and prevailing standards in society.
The Morning Advertiser contacted the Five & Lime, but they did not wish to comment.