Irn Bru 32 Blue Bird Advert Upsets Police

The Scotsman reports that police officers are calling for an Irn-Bru 32 advertisement to be pulled because they claim it encourages violence.

But officers at Strathclyde Police's Violence Reduction Unit said the 30-second advert glamorises violence and portrays Glasgow as full of gangsters.

Two complaints from police in the VRU have been made to TV watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Detective Chief Superintendent John Carnochan and deputy Karen McCluskey have both voiced their concerns at the ad vert. Mr Carnochan said: "We look at violence and its causes very seriously, no matter where it is portrayed."

There have been a further 17 complaints from members of the public since the advert hit the screens in March.

The ASA has launched an investigation into the complaints and will issue a decision within weeks.They can order the advert to be withdrawn if the complaints are found to be justified.

Check out the ad inside.

This isn't the first advert to cause complaints by the police.

Last month another Irn-Bru ad caused fury among police officers when it called police "pigs".

The billboard advert, part of a sales campaign, depicted a sheep with the caption: "I nicked the cow's Irn-Bru so she told the pigs."

Police officers reacted with fury to the advert, branding it "distasteful". They said that condoning the derogatory term would encourage young people to show even less respect to the police.

The billboard was seen initially by a policeman in the Yoker area of Glasgow. The officer, who refused to be named, said the advert had caused outrage among colleagues.

Another Irn-Bru advert was criticised by the ASA last year for mocking transsexuals.