by Thinus Ferreira
South Africa's Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) has ordered South African Breweries (SAB) to remove its "Be in the Moment" TV commercial for Brutal Fruit since it shows not just glass bottles which is prohibited on South African beaches but also depicts people bringing and drinking alcohol on a beach which are also illegal.
SAB aired its Brutal Fruit TV commercial on Warner Bros. Discovery's Discovery (DStv 121) channel on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV service.
The Brutal Fruit TV commercial was filmed by Giant Films with Emma Lundy and Cindy Gabriel as executive producers, with Joe Public as the agency.
According to the ARB, SAB's Brutal Fruit TV commercial depicts a glass bottle of Brutal Fruit on a colourful beach towel, as well as scenes and a setting in which a group of people are drinking Brutal Fruit
In response to a complaint from a DStv subscriber, SAB's Brutal Fruit told the ARB that the Brutal Fruit glass bottle depicted on the beach is closed and was only displayed "with the intention of showcasing the brand, and at no point did any of the people in the commercial consume the product on the beach".
Brutal Fruit said "it continues to encourage responsible disposal of bottles with appropriate guidance labelling to this effect appearing on packaging".
The ARB said it can't rule on the display of a Brutal Fruit glass bottle depicted on a beach, but said SAB and Brutal Fruit's argument "that the bottle is closed and alcohol is not begin consumed in the beach scenes is a little disingenuous".
"A hypothetical reasonable consumer watching the commercial as a whole and not pausing scene-by-scene as the directorate did, will view the commercial in its entirety, depicting friends enjoying Brutal Fruit together in various settings, and will not isolate the beach scenes, will not analyse each frame and conclude that alcohol is not consumed on the beach."
According to the ARB, it is "a stretch for the advertiser to assert that because the bottles are closed it is used to highlight the brand and does not encourage drinking on a beach".
The ARB in its ruling noted that Clause 3.3 of Section II states that advertisements must not contain anything which might lend support to criminal or illegal activities, nor should they appear to condone such activities.
"There is no doubt in the mind of the directorate that watched as a whole, the commercial condones and in fact encourages bringing alcohol to the beach and consuming it on the beach. This is illegal".
The ARB directorate found that SAB's Brutal Fruit TV commercial contravened Clause 3.3 of Section II of the Code and ordered SAB to remove the Brutal Fruit ad in its current format from wherever it appears.
