A complaint about a billboard by McLeod’s Pizza Barn and Brewery has been upheld, with the Advertising Standards Authority ruling it was placed too close to a school.
A complaint about a billboard by McLeod’s Pizza Barn and Brewery has been upheld, with the Advertising Standards Authority ruling it was placed too close to a school.
A Northland brewery and pizza restaurant has been barred from using a billboard after the advertising watchdog ruled it wasn’t appropriate within 300 metres of a school - even though the ad made no mention of alcohol.
McLeod’s Pizza Barn and Brewery, based in Waipū, advertised its business on a billboard within 300m of Rodney College in Welsford, a 35-minute drive from the establishment.
The advertisement pictured a Whangārei landscape during sunset with the words “35 minutes to paradise” and “handcrafted in Waipū, Northland, New Zealand”.
It included the company logo, but made no explicit reference to alcohol or the fact the business was a brewery. It contained no symbols or art portraying alcohol.
A person complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about the billboard, concerned that it was within the direct line of sight of Rodney College.
The complainant made the point that the design of the billboard was much the same as the packaging of the company’s beer.
In response, McLeod’s denied the ad could be construed as targeting children.
The billboard was within 300m of Rodney College.
“We believe any student present at Rodney College, if questioned on the meaning of the billboard, would see this as representative of McLeod’s Pizza Barn ... and [would] be completely unaware of McLeod’s Pale Ale six-packs.
“Please note the six-packs are largely sold in restricted areas, are comparatively expensive to other alcohol options and not widely consumed by people under 25 [who are], generally speaking, not craft beer drinkers.”
The billboard had been used for a total of 10 months during three summers. It was removed in February before the ASA made its decision.
The authority considered the complaint under the Advertising Standards Code, ruling the billboard breached Principle 1, relating to social responsibility.
It said that because the billboard used the same art it uses on its alcohol packaging, it was promoting the consumption of alcohol.
“The board agreed the placement of an alcohol advertisement in such close proximity to a school meant it had not appropriately targeted an adult audience and was therefore in breach of the [Alcohol Advertising and Promotion] code.”
It upheld the complaint and said the advertisement is not to be used again at the location.
In making the decision, the authority referred to two previously upheld complaints as precedent. One surrounded a Jack Daniel’s whiskey billboard near a school, while another involved advertisements of ‘Beers at the Basin’ near the Basin Reserve, which is close to a secondary school and bus routes.
In both of these examples, the advertisements explicitly pictured or referenced alcohol.
The third decision used as precedent surrounded an earlier complaint against McLeod’s, which the ASA declined to uphold.
The complaint surrounded a billboard at Whangārei Airport which included the same landscape art but also had a beer bottle and the word “brewery” under its logo.
The complainant noted that there were children’s toys directly beneath the billboard and it could be seen to be targeting children, although after the complaint, the toys were voluntarily removed.
“The children that were likely to play in proximity to the advertising would not be able to read the advertising, much less be able to purchase the product,” the owner of the billboard, Bishopp Airport Advertising, said.
