Diageo rumbled by the ASA for Snapchat ad

Drinks manufacturer Diageo has been found in breach of UK advertising codes for using a cartoon Snapchat filter to promote rum.

An augmented reality lens featuring Captain Morgan in June last year turned users into the brand’s eponymous character – but the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the ad would have appealed to too many users under the age of eighteen.

Under UK law, ads for alcohol can only be deployed if 75% of the target audience is over the legal drinking age.

However, the ASA ruled that the cartoon filter was likely to both appeal to under 18s, and that the self-reported data Snap supplied about the age of its users was inadequate.

“The only targeting data available to Diageo on Snapchat was unverified supplied ages collected when users signed up,” the ASA said.

“We therefore concluded that…Captain Morgan had not taken sufficient care to ensure that the ad was not directed at people under 18.”

The ASA said the ad must not appear again in its current form and told Diageo to ensure its ads were appropriately targeted in the future.