ASA Lets Britvic Off The Hook

The ASA has let Britvic off the hook after complaints that one of its posters was “offensive and mocked those suffering from eating disorders.”

The poster, which was advertising a low calorie fruit drink, carried the headline: “I can’t drink it. Grapefruit piles on the pounds” and showed a rake sunbathing on a boat. Next to the rake was a book entitled “Hollywood Rakes.” In the bottom right hand corner of the poster, next to an image of the drink, was the slogan “Give Us A Break Only Thirty Calories.”

Britvic defended itself against the complaint, claiming that the poster: “Was part of an advertising campaign that had been designed to challenge the outdated view of women’s relationship with food and drink.” They said that the campaign reflected the fact that women were rejecting the media’s obsession with “skinniness” and claimed that the “absurd exaggeration” of the slogan and the image of the rake: “Introduced an element of humour and scepticism about the emaciated figure of models presented in the media.” They felt that this humour would be shared by the average woman.

The ASA understood the humourous approach of the ad and considered that the “obvious exaggeration” and the use of “glamorous imagery” made it clear that the ad was ridiculing media attitudes and not those suffering form eating disorders. It concluded that the ad was not likely to cause serious or widespread offence.

ASA: 020 7580 5555 www.asa.org.uk

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