TVNZ criticised for airing beer ad during addiction documentary, apologises

TVNZ has apologised after airing an alcohol ad during a documentary on alcohol addiction.

While airing a documentary detailing a man’s battle with alcohol harm, the country’s public broadcaster showed an ad for a beer company - a move labelled socially irresponsible by the advertising watchdog.

During the June 6 screening of I am Michael Hogan: I am Free from Addiction, TVNZ 1 broadcast an ad for beer brand Speights around 9.30pm.

The ad showed a man struggling to make a speech at his brother’s birthday party. Another man intercepted and began to sing Donna Lewis’ 1996 hit I Love You Always Forever and encouraged others at the event to join in.

It ended with the Speights logo and its slogan: “Good on ya mate.”

A viewer went on to complain to the Advertising Standards Authority about the placement of the ad and TVNZ has since issued an apology.

The authority ruled in a decision released this week the placement was “not appropriate” but accepted it was an error.

The complainant had told the authority they had supported a family member through an addiction journey.

“I was finding the story truly inspiring, and was horrified to have this advertisement played at this time,” they said in their complaint.

The chair of the authority directed the complaint to the complaints board.

In response, Speights owner Lion NZ said the company was committed to being a responsible advertiser but the ad had been placed by its advertising agency, which did not know the content of the documentary.

TVNZ told the authority while the ad was in the final slot of the hour-long programme, airing it was a mistake.

“While alcohol ads are permitted to screen after 8.30pm on television, TVNZ considers that the alcohol ad should not have screened in this episode and we apologise for this.”

The broadcaster said it would update its ad-buying system to include the full title of a programme to ensure advertisers are aware of its content.

In considering the complaint, the board referred to a previous decision about an ad for condoms that aired during a film containing themes of rape. In that case, the authority ruled the ad was an error from TVNZ and deemed the matter settled.

The board said in this case, the Speights advertisement was poorly placed and would typically be in breach of the social responsibility principle.

“The Complaints Board agreed the placement of the alcohol advertisement during a programme focusing on addiction was not appropriate or socially responsible.”

But, similarly to the condom case, it ruled the broadcasting of the ad was a “media error” from TVNZ and deemed the complaint settled. The ad is not to run again during similar programming.

In a statement to NZME, a TVNZ spokesperson reiterated the company’s apology.

“While the I Am series tells a range of different personal stories, the episode on June 6 dealt with alcohol addiction issues. The advertisement in question was inadvertently scheduled, and we have acknowledged this mistake and apologised for it.”

The special rules for alcohol advertising

Alcohol is subject to substantially stricter and more specific rules than typical advertising, contained within the Alcohol Advertising and Promotion Code.

For television, that includes a strict ban on alcohol advertising between the hours of 6am and 8.30pm.

Advertisers must ensure they are not targeting the ads at children through means such as animations or bright colours, and ads must be confined to age-restricted media.

Online, this means alcohol sites can use age verification tests, while in general media this can be determined by research surrounding audience composition.

For alcohol ads generally, children and pregnant or breastfeeding women cannot appear in any ad, while each person in the ad must be 25 or over or at least “appear” to be over 25.

Advertisers are subject to strict rules when promoting alcohol. Photo / 123RF

The over-25 rule does not apply if the advertising contains real people instead of actors, or if the individual is employed by the advertiser for the purpose of serving alcohol.

Alcohol cannot be advertised near heavy machinery or swimming pools and cannot be shown in connection with tobacco, vaping, glue or explosives. Sports can be shown in ads, but the ad cannot show alcohol consumption before or during the activity.

It also can’t be shown to enhance any desirable social quality such as confidence, physical ability or sexual success.

Media must avoid alcohol advertising saturation, with the code stating no more than six minutes per hour.