February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The ad shows a man walking barefoot over hot lava in order to get to a pint of Guinness, and the ASAI said that it breached new standards to cut down underage drinking.
“We’ve instructed the media not to run them,” Edward McCumiskey, ASAI chief executive, told reporters.
Coors Light and a Carlsberg ad were banned as well.
“It’s an instruction to them that this ad is not to appear again, although they can come back with a modified version,” McCumiskey said.
The ad for Guinness was filmed in Poland and shows a volcano devastating a village, after which the barefooted man walks over red-hot lava to open the village pub so survivors and have a pint.
In banning the ad, the Irish watchdog in a bulletin said a code in place since last April “requires that an advertisement for alcoholic drink should not imply that drinking has therapeutic qualities or that it can contribute to social or other success.”
A Guinness spokesman said: “We are disappointed at the loss of the commercial, but the company will comply with the decision of the ASAI.”
“The main concern is the effects of alcohol advertising on minors,” McCumiskey said.
“What’s been happening is that a lot of the alcohol advertisements are showing a very positive lifestyle, an exuberant lifestyle, a very attractive lifestyle which is not in keeping with the concerns about alcohol and alcohol abuse, particularly by young people.”