Watchdog bans Red Bull Tube advert telling workers to go home at 4pm
A Red Bull advert has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for wrongly suggesting the energy drink improves focus and concentration.
Posters displayed on the London Underground described Red Bull as the “secret to finishing early”, encouraging people to finish their work and go home at 4pm.
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The advert, which depicted two cartoon women and a poem, was part of the company’s ‘4pm Finish’ campaign in September.
But the ASA has banned the advert, ruling it implied the drink has a beneficial effect on focus and concentration.
The Austrian company disputed the complaint, saying the posters neither claimed any health benefits nor depicted the product being consumed.
But the ASA said while it recognised the light-hearted tone of the advert, the scenario implied a relationship between the product and consumer health and could be misleading.
“While we understood that the ad was intended to be part of a marketing initiative aimed at encouraging consumers to improve their productivity and leave at 4pm on a specific day, we considered that the penultimate line of the poem implied Red Bull could help improve consumers’ mental focus, concentration and energy levels,” the ASA said.
The ruling is not the first clash between the energy drink manufacturer and the advertising regulator. Last year the ASA ruled the company’s slogan, ‘Red Bull gives you wiiings”, was not a health claim as the words were “clearly fanciful” and would not be taken literally by consumers.
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The regulator said the advert must not appear again in its current form, and warned Red Bull not to imply its product can increase focus and concentration.
ASA rules state only health claims authorised by the EU can be used in advertising.