Love Islander's vodka ad pulled for targeting under-18s

A former Love Island contestant's social media promotion for a vodka brand has been banned from TikTok for targeting under-18s.

Lucinda Strafford can be seen filling a large gold-coloured vending machine with cans of Au Vodka before taking a sip and saying: "That is so good."

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated a complaint about the ad, posted on TikTok in June, claiming it was inappropriately aimed at people under 18.

It found Swansea-based AU Vodka broke the rules and banned the ad from TikTok, as well as two different ads the drinks company put on Facebook featuring someone who was, or seemed to be, under 25 years of age.

Under UK advertising rules, ads for alcoholic drinks must not be directed at people under 18 years of age, and no media should be used to advertise alcoholic drinks if more than 25% of the audience is under 18.

Further, people shown drinking or playing a significant role in ads for alcoholic drinks must not be, or seem to be, under 25 years of age.

The accompanying text to Strafford's Tik Tok post read: "An actual DREAM OMG [hearts and peach emojis] unlimited Juicy Peach cans [smiling face with tears emoji] & I can keep it?! Au Vodka ad."

Au Vodka told the ASA the ad was designed for a general adult audience with no themes directed at under 18s.

Strafford is over the age of 25, the firm added, and a screenshot of her TikTok audience demographics made them believe all of her followers were aged 18 or over.

The ASA said it expected to see evidence that Au Vodka had taken appropriate steps to limit the likelihood of children or young people seeing their ads.

Noting that the minimum age required to create a TikTok account was 13, the ASA said the screenshot of Strafford's followers did not include data for any followers aged between 13 and 17.

It said it was therefore unable to say what percentage of her followers were under 18.

"We considered overall that the [Love Island] TV series was popular with young people, including under-18s, and that a number of individuals who were under the age of 18 with TikTok accounts were therefore likely to interact with content related to Love Island on the platform.

"Even if those individuals did not follow Ms Strafford, we considered it was likely that the algorithm would determine her posts to be of interest to them, meaning they would appear in their 'For You' page.

"In the absence of specific targeting tools and relevant demographic data being provided, and in view of the way in which users engaged with TikTok, we concluded that insufficient care had been taken to ensure that ad was not directed at people under the age of 18."

The ASA also investigated complaints about two AU Vodka ads on Facebook, including a video showing another influencer, Kai Cenat, opening a box containing a bottle of Au Vodka and drinking it.

The accompanying text read: "Haven't Tried Au Vodka Yet? Secure The Taste Of The Summer, Au Vodka Juicy Peach [peach emoji] Essences of summer in every sip. [palm tree emoji] Shop Now Pay Later Available [credit card emoji]."

Au Vodka acknowledged Cenat was 23 years old, but said this was compliant with advertising laws in the US, where they had intended the ad to be seen.

Another Facebook post in April showed a woman saying "you need to try this" before holding a bottle of Au Vodka Juicy Peach to the camera.

Au Vodka acknowledged the individual featured was 24 years old at the time the ad appeared and was therefore in breach of advertising regulations.

Her inclusion was an oversight it said, adding steps had been taken to enforce stricter checks in future.

The ASA said: "The ads must not appear again in their current form.

"We told Au Vodka Ltd to ensure that their future ads were appropriately targeted and were not directed at people under 18 years of age.

"We also told them to ensure their ads did not feature individuals who were, or appeared to be, under 25 years of age."