A complaint against a Lion cider advertisement has been upheld by the Alcohol Advertising Review Board (AARB).
The complaint was lodged against an ad for 5 Seeds Night Orchard Cider with Vodka seen on the side of a bus on Mounts Bay Road in Crawley, Western Australia.
Since its launch in 2012, the AARB has received 130 complaints about alcohol ads placed on public transport and transit stops from all over Australia.
The advertisement featured an image of two bottles of 5 Seeds Night Orchard Cider with Vodka. In the background are people outside under a full moon. In the top right corner of the advertisement was the text “New 5 Seeds Night Orchard Cider with a dash of Vodka”.
The complainant believes the advertisement contravenes placement code, saying: “Young people would have been exposed to the ad due to its placement, and particularly as the bus was on route from a major WA university”.
The AARB reviewed the case, finding the advertisement contravened the code that states no alcohol advertisement should be placed on public transport.
The board says the advertisement contravened section seven of the placement code, as it was placed on the side of a bus.
“A panel member commented that any public transport is likely to be viewed by children and young people as they make up a large proportion of users.”
In the 2015 AARB annual report it was found over 94% of Australian students aged 12-17 years report seeing alcohol advertising on media platforms including outdoor.
With outdoor media now accounting for 9% of the advertising industry, the watchdog organisation and health groups including the McCusker Centre for Action on Alcohol and Youth, is calling for the industry to remove all alcohol advertising from public transport.
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