TfL ad 'ban' represents a good day in the office for Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais has joined the growing list of celebrities lending (or rather renting) their name and celebrity image to an alcohol brand. Gin seems to be a particularly popular category, with offerings from actors including Emma Watson, Brad Pitt, Ryan Reynolds and Margot Robbie; musicians from Snoop Dogg to Katherine Jenkins; and even alcohol-free gins from David Guetta, Katy Perry and Lewis Hamilton. Even I've heard of these people - well, some of them - but I'm not sure why their musical, acting or sporting prowess makes them well placed mix their botanicals into a winning distillation. 

At least Ricky Gervais is funny, so he can be relied upon to create humorous advertising for his own drink. Ricky has gone for a vodka brand called Dutch Barn, flavoured with apples from God's own county of Yorkshire. Personally, the alcohol that I associate with apples is cider, and the excessive and unwise alcohol consumption of my youth. So the thought of combining apples with vodka, which also has unfortunate adolescent associations, brings a lump to my throat.  And not in a good way. 

Following a recent brand re-fresh, Dutch Barn planned an advertising campaign on the London Underground featuring a portrait of Ricky with a punning headline “One day you'll be underground for good.” Clever, but not acceptable to Transport for London. According to the star's post on X, “Dutch Barn sold so well that we were able to afford a London Underground billboard. However, it was not accepted for the following reason – ‘We think there is a risk that this may be construed as implying that because life is short, one might as well drink, potentially to excess.” Well, at least they got the joke. 

Dutch Barn are the latest in a long line of advertisers to be caught out by the conservative ad policies of TfL. In this case, however, the ad may have been declined because TfL is still suffering from the hang over caused by the ASA's decision to ban an ad for Jack Daniels earlier this year, despite seeming quite sober by comparison to the Dutch Barn ad.

The Jack Daniel’s poster ad, which ran on the London Underground in the autumn of 2023, shows a group of friends sitting round a table, pouring JD and a mixer into a glass. The headline says “Shorter days mean we can skip to the good part”,  with a strap line that says “Jack Daniel’s: Make it count” and small print that states “Remember the good parts. Please drink responsibly”.

Following just one complaint, the ASA banned the poster ad. The regulator decided that the the reference to “good parts” gave the impression that drinking alcohol is the most enjoyable part of the day and takes priority in life. The ASA also concluded that the responsible drinking message did not change the impression of the ad. Apparently the ad implied that drinking alcohol could overcome boredom, encouraged people to start drinking earlier than usual, implied that alcohol might take priority in life, and promoted unwise drinking styles. It was therefore irresponsible and breached the Code. (You can read my post about the decision from the time it was published here.)

In view of this recent experience, it is not surprising that TfL refused to carry Ricky's ad on the basis that it encourages people to drink while they can. Strictly speaking, the ad was not ‘banned’ or even rejected by TfL, but simply ‘declined’ by TfL's unnamed ‘advertising partner’ following feedback from the Committee of Advertising Practice.

In any event, Ricky has certainly managed to turn this set back into a PR opportunity, gleaning plenty of media coverage from his post on X about the ‘ban’. The process of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat was completed by creating this equally amusing ad to replace the one that was rejected:

All in all, a good day in the office for Ricky. Except these days, his office is a Dutch Barn.