ASA Rules Against “Drink Doctor” Internet Ads

The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint
against Internet advertisements for Drink Doctor Ltd.’s alcohol delivery
service, ruling that two banners on the company’s Facebook page “drew
a link between provision of alcohol and the provision of medical assistance.”
In its ruling, the agency contends that even though consumers
were unlikely to confuse Drink Doctor with genuine medical assistance,
the use of medical imagery “presented alcohol as a product to be used
in the same manner” as medicine. ASA also takes issue with the “boozebulance”
vehicle and emergency phone number featured in the ads, as
these reportedly implied that alcohol beverages were “necessary and
indispensable.”

“We also considered that the name ‘Drink Doctor’ in itself contained the
same implication by conflating the role of a medical professional with the
provision of alcohol,” concludes the ruling, which orders Drink Doctor to
refrain from using medical imagery or terminology in its ads. “Marketing
communications should not imply that alcohol has therapeutic qualities,
and we considered that the use of medical imagery to market an alcohol
delivery service carried such an implication.”

Issue 579