Coors Brewers Ltd 137 High Street Burton-on-Trent Staffordshire DE14 1JZ Number of complaints: 1

Date: 15 October 2008 Media: Television Sector: Alcohol Agency: Leith Agency

Ad
A TV ad, for Coors Light lager, showed two white men and a woman drinking in the mountains. One of the men said "You know what? That Coors Light tastes really light", the girl said "What?" and the other man replied "Yeah, really light". The ad then showed the two men on the street, one holding a plastic hand-held keyboard; they started to sing a song about the drink in a reggae style, imitating a Jamaican accent and dancing in an exaggerated way. The lyrics of the song stated "Hear me now! You taste so light just like an eagle wing, up high in the Rockies gonna do ma ting. You taste so light just like the arctic air, ice cold from the land of the grizzly bear. Its the lightest beer taste thats known to man, like the mini TV that I got in Japan. So if you need a taste that will delight, Coors Light taste light just like a pillow fight". During the song one of the men imitated a bear face and bear claws to camera and the other man reacted with fake fear, some dance moves included exaggerated marital arts style moves and a fake moose could be seen behind the men in one shot. The song ended with the woman hitting both men with a pillow.

The ad was given a timing restriction by Clearcast which meant it must not to be transmitted in or adjacent to children's programmes or programmes commissioned for, principally directed at, or likely to appeal particularly to audiences below the age of 18, or to be transmitted in or between religious programmes.

Issue
1. A viewer objected that the accent and dance moves of the two white men were offensive and racist.

2. The ASA challenged whether the singing and exaggerated dance moves in the ad were likely to appeal strongly to under 18-year-olds by reflecting or being associated with their culture.

BCAP TV Advertising Code:

6.1;6.6;11.8.2(a)

Response
1. Coors Brewers (Coors) said they were opposed to racism and discrimination in all its forms.  They said they took complaints very seriously and took great care to avoid causing offence in their advertising. They asserted that there was no reference or allusion of any kind to black or Caribbean people or their culture; they believed the key reference was to 'ragga' music.

Coors asserted that, while the ragga genre may have originated in Jamaica, it had (like reggae) evolved and spread throughout the world.  They believed an essential element of the genre in many of its manifestations, whether in the UK, India, Australia or elsewhere, was a vocal style based on Jamaican patois and that ragga performers of all nations and colours had tended to adopt a Jamaican-influenced 'ragga' style. They argued that, although the song was a spoof of the ragga genre, it was an affectionate spoof and, rather than poking fun at or demeaning the genre or its origins, the two characters in the ad had great respect for the genre and threw themselves into the performance with energy and enthusiasm.  Coors believed the humour in the ad derived from the lyrical content being at odds with the ragga style and from the fact that the performers were essentially pretty inept and unlikely as ragga artists.

Coors said they had liaised with Clearcast to explore whether the use of a ragga style could potentially cause offence to anyone. They said they had carried out extensive consumer research before broadcasting the ad and were satisfied that there was no risk of the ad causing serious or widespread offence.

Coors said ragga had been chosen because it was a highly lyrical and energetic music form that suited their concept for the characters to react to the beer by spontaneously waxing lyrical in an animated, over-the-top way.  They also believed it worked well as a "retro" cultural reference point for their target audience who, they believed, would have fond memories from their youth of the music of artists such as Shabba Ranks, Apache Indian and Shaggy.  Coors asserted that the dance moves in the ad were not strictly choreographed and were not intended to represent anything other than the two main characters' spontaneous amateur efforts.  They believed there was no sense of any particular style or people being parodied or mocked.

Clearcast believed there was no element of racism in the ad and it was not capable of causing serious or widespread offence. They said the dancing and music were a homage to ragga music and it was on that basis that they had cleared the ad.  They said the two characters were copying a style of music, not an ethnic group.  Clearcast believed the characters were not imitating a Jamaican accent but were imitating the ragga style. They said the dancing was also not imitating a racial group but was simply an exaggeration of the style of dancing that was linked to ragga.

2. Coors said they were careful to ensure that neither their overall approach nor any particular elements of their ads were likely to appeal strongly to under 18-year-olds. They asserted that the "Hear Me Now" ad was designed to appeal to an 18- to 34-year-old audience and they believed it would not appeal strongly to younger viewers.

Coors believed nothing in the ad reflected or was associated with youth culture.  They said the actors were both over 25 years of age and argued that the characters' clothing was not fashionable and reflected an older generation. They asserted that nothing in the mens language was specific to or suggested youth culture and that the comedy style, the music and the dance moves did not in any way reflect youth culture.

Coors argued that the humour in the ad was similar to the "geek-chic" comedy of acts and shows such as The Mighty Boosh, Da Ali G Show, Flight of the Conchords and Reeves and Mortimer; they asserted that none of those programmes were targeted at or appealed strongly to people under the age of 18. They asserted that viewing statistics indicated that the percentage of viewers who were under the age of 18 for those shows were: Mighty Boosh 14%, Da Ali G Show 10%, Flight of the Conchords 9% and Shooting Stars 12%.

Coors said they believed ragga had not enjoyed any kind of renaissance amongst a younger generation and the style would not appeal strongly, or at all, to under 18-year-olds. They asserted that figures indicated that under 18-year-olds accounted for only 7.7% of ragga and reggae fans in the UK. They said the dance moves were not strictly choreographed to a particular dance genre and they believed they did not reflect youth culture. They believed there was nothing distinctive or repetitive about the dance moves that would make them appealing to under 18-year-olds or something that they would want to copy.

Clearcast also believed the singing and dancing shown in the ad were not likely to appeal to people under the age of 18. They said they did not consider that ragga had strong appeal to under 18-year-olds, such as grime or rap might, but rather the appeal of the genre was universal.  They believed the antics of the two characters were not cool or street and, if anything, the characters were slightly geeky and bumbling. They had considered it unlikely that the characters behaviour would resonate well with under 18-year-olds.  They believed the characters were dressed relatively soberly considering their location and their clothing was not linked with current clothing trends popular with under 18-year-olds such as hoodies or skater gear. They believed the characters were light hearted, playful and bouncy but were not puerile in their actions; they believed that would limit any appeal to a younger age group.

Assessment
1. Not upheld
The ASA noted Coors and Clearcasts comments. We considered that the humour in the ads was derived from the actions of the two characters, who were portrayed as being ridiculous, and was not derived from, or at the expense of, the ethnicity or cultural backgrounds of any race. We considered that the ad was unlikely to be seen as humiliating, stigmatising or undermining the standing of people from any ethnic group. We concluded that the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 6.1 (Offence) and 6.6 (Harmful or negative stereotypes) but did not find it in breach.

2. Upheld
We noted Coors and Clearcasts comments. We also noted the BCAP Guidance Notes stated that advertisers should avoid themes that are associated with immature, adolescent or childish behaviour or practical jokes.  We considered that the humour in the ad, particularly the exaggerated dance moves, the bear impression, fake moose, plastic keyboard and the woman hitting the men with a pillow, was juvenile and used themes that were likely to appeal strongly to adolescents, and that the characters wacky, silly behaviour would appeal strongly to young peoples sense of humour. We concluded that the ad breached the Code.

On this point, the ad breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rule 11.8.2(a) (Additional rules for alcohol advertisements).

Action
The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)