ASA Rules on Heineken’s UK Advertising

The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has not upheld complaints against Heineken UK Ltd. arguing that the company’s underground and Reddit advertisements particularly appealed to those under the age of 18.

ASA received complaints about two ads, including a poster ad at Paddington underground station and a paid-for ad on Reddit. The ads included computer-generated images of people holding a can of Heineken beer. Complainants asserted that they are likely to appeal particularly to those under 18, in violation of CAP Code 18.14.

ASA noted that the characters in the ads had been created specifically for Heineken’s ad campaign and were not based on any existing characters. Additionally, ASA concluded that neither characters were shown engaging in any activity that would particularly appeal to those under 18.

“Both were depicted wearing stylised clothing, and the female character’s armour-like clothing and stylised hair, in particular, were reminiscent of the sort of stylisation seen in gaming avatars,” ASA said in its assessment. “However, we considered the stylisation in itself did not mean that the characters, or the ads, would have greater appeal to under-18s than to over-18s.”