Forged Irish Stout broke advertising standards for sexualised content

James Cox

An advert for Conor McGregor's Forged Irish Stout received a complaint over sexualised content, one of 18 upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority recently.

Eighteen ments across radio, print, online, social media, television, outdoor and direct mail were found to be in breach of the Advertising Standards Authority Code on grounds related to a range of issues including misleading, substantiation, health and beauty, alcoholic drinks, environmental claims and promotional marketing.

Forged Irish Stout Distribution received a complaint relating to an advert described as: "An ment in the form of an Instagram reel featured r’s own social media. It depicted a group of female models wearing two-piece outfits – a crop top and high-leg hotpants – posing around a vehicle drinking pints of Forged Stout. The ment also featured a person dressed as a life-sized Forged Stout can."

The complainant said the ment contained sexualised content which made a link between alcohol and sexual relations/ performance, and the complaint was upheld.

There were two complaints against the site MoveHome.ie upheld.

One of the adverts claimed a house in the Glasnevin area was a 28-minute walk from Dublin city centre. Using the Spire on O'Connell Street as a reference point, the complainant said it was a 50-minute walk at minimum. The complaint was upheld.

The other advert said a house was a three-bedroom property, but the complainant said the rooms did not meet the standard to be classed as bedrooms, this complaint was also upheld.

One complaint was upheld against the National Dairy Council for an advert with the following description: "A television ment featured a female rugby player speaking about Irish grass and dairy. The ment included a number of statements such as 'Rich green grass lies at the heart of our naturally nutritious, sustainably produced milk.'"

The authority said: "Three complaints were made against the ment. The complainants said it was misleading and ‘greenwashing’ to claim milk is sustainably produced due to the impact of the dairy industry on the environment. The complainants said that Irish agriculture was the single biggest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland and caused the greatest amount of biodiversity loss due to the national herd and the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilisers. They referred to the EU t Research Centre’s report from 2010 which stated that Ireland had the fourth highest CO2 emissions in the EU for milk production.

"Another complainant said that while dairy production in Ireland may be more sustainable than other countries, it was misleading to say it’s sustainable in Ireland given that the Climate Action Plan requires farming emissions to be reduced by 25 per cent."

All three complaints were upheld.

Eir had a complaint upheld against it for misleading claims about prices for its monthly plans.