42 Below ad goes over the top

42 Below managing director Geoff Ross. Picture / Nicola Topping

By SIMON HENDERY marketing writer

42 Below has capped off an eventful and controversial year with a ticking-off from the Advertising Standards Complaints Board over a vodka ad dubbed "extremely damaging to the liquor industry as a whole".

The board has upheld a complaint about the ad, which referred to Maori drinking large amounts of 42 Below vodka, trading it for blankets, muskets and hobbits, and linked the product with the All Blacks, the America's Cup, the Shotover River and Russell Crowe.

The ad, which the listed spirits producer said was largely a "spoof", has been condemned by the board for breaching liquor advertising guidelines designed to promote moderation in drinking, and social responsibility.

It was also deemed to reinforce a negative stereotype of Maori, to make inappropriate references to youth heroes, and to link the consumption of alcohol to a hazardous situation.

The complaint was the seventh liquor-related complaint the board has ruled on this year and the second it has upheld.

The board works under a voluntary, self-regulating framework and does not have powers to hand down punishments to advertisers whom it rules against.

However, when complaints are upheld, the advertiser, advertising agency and media are asked to voluntarily withdraw the advertisement.

The board says such requests are invariably followed.

42 Below's 30-second ad ran on radio in September and a longer version appeared on 42 Below's website.

It prompted a complaint from the chief executive of the Distilled Spirits Association, Thomas Chin, who said it breached principles of relevant advertising codes of practice.

The association represents about 90 per cent of the country's spirits producers and importers but does not count 42 Below among its membership.

Another complaint about the same ad, focusing on the negative portrayal of Maori, and the confusion regarding the national identity of Australia and New Zealand, was also lodged with the authority.

The second complainant said that in her view the advertisement was in bad taste and was not saved by humour.

42 Below managing director Geoff Ross, a former advertising executive who created the vodka in his spare time while working for Saatchi & Saatchi, is overseas and could not be reached for comment.

However, in response to the complaints, 42 Below told the ASCB that the ad was a "spoof" of all those things that New Zealand is typically known for.