Kronenbourg's Eric Cantona ad escapes ASA ban following complaint from Youth Alcohol Advertising Council
A Kronenbourg ad featuring Eric Cantona has avoided a ban from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) following a complaint from the Youth Alcohol Advertising Council (YAAC).
The group, which reviews alcohol advertising from the perspective of young people, took issue with a YouTube video for the brand. The push starred the former footballer as a fictional character who traveled around with his two dogs delivering Kronenbourg "to the deserving".
The well-trained German shepherds were shown wearing barrels containing the beer around their necks, and giving the beer to people who had experienced precarious situations, like a postman who had fallen off his bike. Another scenario, depicted an actor on stage playing out a dramatic suicide scene as Cantona's character in the audience was seen rolling his eyes and sighing. Once the performance was over, the actor received a standing ovation from the rest of the audience and the "Alsace-tian" dogs delivered his pint of Kronenbourg in recognition of his success.
YAAC challenged whether the ad implied that alcohol could enhance confidence, had therapeutic qualities, and was capable of changing mood, physical condition or behaviour, but the regulator disagreed.
Referring to the scene with the actor, Heineken noted that the alcohol wasn't given to him until his performance ended, adding that the the other complaints in relation to the storylines featuring the unlikely situations couldn't be substantiated because the scenarios shown were "exaggerated, humorous and farcical". It pointed out that no one involved was hurt. The brand also noted that the scenarios had been resolved by the time the beer was consumed and the scenes ended after the characters had taken a sip of Kronenbourg.
The ASA agreed, saying that the ads did not the ad did not imply that alcohol had therapeutic properties, or was capable of changing mood, physical condition or behaviour. No further action will be taken on the campaign, which was created by Ogilvy & Mather.