No more pretty boys, only bald fat men in booze ads please!

This is truly bizarre but the ASA thinks that using "balding" and "paunchy" men in booze adverts would be less likely to encourange woman to drink to achieve social success. So the booze-makers have actually been ordered to have uglier men in their ads, as the new advertising code stresses that there should be no link between alcohol and seduction. As if only Ken-doll type pretty boys know how to seduce a woman.

Lambrini is the first drinks maker to get a slap on the wrists, as their latst ad shows three women hooking up a guy in a parody of a fairground game. The ASA said to the Lambrini firm:

"We would advise that the man in the picture should be unattractive - ie overweight, middle-aged, balding etc.

"In its current form we consider that the ad is in danger of implying that the drink may bring sexual/social success, because the man in question looks quite attractive and desirable to the girls.

"If the man was clearly unattractive, we think that this implication would be removed from the ad."

John Halewood, Lambrini's owner didn't think that the ASA should be in the business of defining who is and is not unattractive enought to be in a booze ad. He said to Sky news: "It makes some very understandable rulings to encourage sensible drinking but we're not sure they're qualified to decide for the nation who's sexy and who's not. Sexual attraction is happily one of the few things in life that can't be governed."
Hat tip to Nathalie.