The ASA has decided to ban Captain Morgan's recent Facebook advert, as it implied that drinking rum cures boredom. Although some of you may agree with that statement, the Youth Alcohol Advertising council took particular offence to it. 

Captain Morgan's recent Facebook advert that was banned by the ASA.
This isn't the first time Diageo has been in trouble and the alcohol industry in general has seen many banned adverts due to the sensitive nature of the product. We decided to round up some of the 'best' banned alcohol adverts and see how they compared to Diageo's latest indiscretion. 

Earlier this year WKD also had a Facebook campaign removed after a complaint from the YAAC.  It featured an image of WKD with the caption "WKD 8 BALL - Weekend Prediction - YOU WILL REFUSE TO DO KARAOKE. AT FIRST." This was said to imply alcohol could enhance confidence and was integral to the success of a social event. A harsh penalty as some would argue that you do in fact need a 'Dutch Courage' to participate in Karaoke!

Cell Drink produced a YouTube campaign which seemed more like a 'How Not To Guide' of marketing alcohol. Firstly they used Tim Sheiff a 23 year old free runner, however Advertising code states that under 25s should not be associated with drinking. The theme of the video associated dangerous stunts and physical activities with drinking alcohol, probably not the best link to use! While it was also argued the campaign appealed to under 18s. Check out the video below:


Possibly the most popular on the list. The Super Bowl has a history of debuting some of the biggest adverts in history and also a long list of since banned adverts, one of these being BudLights 2007 commercial. This advert now has just short of 20 million views online, not bad at all! This one actually doesn't relate to irresponsible drinking, rather it's just too perverted. Check it out below:


Kronenbourg, part of the Heineken family, used French legend Eric Cantona to promote the "Gallic superiority" of Kronenbourg 1664. Athough a brilliant advert, it focused heavily on the French hops used and how it was produced in the small french town of Alsace, when in reality it was brewed in Manchester and the Steisselspalts hops made up a very small proportion of the four types that were used. This led to the ASA banning the advert for misleading about the true origins of Kronenbourg.


 
It's not just advertising beer that can land you in trouble, anti-drinking adverts can be just as offensive. I think we all remember the shock tactics used by the government and NHS with their Know Your Limits campaign. The below image was from 2006, research has shown that children between the ages of 11 - 16 were upset by these kind of adverts.
 
Shock tactics used by the Government for their Know Your Limits campaign 2006.
Although there are many examples here of pushing the boundaries, you only have to look at brands such as Guiness and Absolut, who are masters of marketing tricky products!