A WEEK IN BEVERAGE ADVERTISING: 17/7/13

Diet Coke Hunk sweats on UK health and safety complaint to ASA

16-Jul-2013 - Last updated on 19-Aug-2020 at 08:07 GMT

Today's podcast rounds up two UK drinks adverts involving a Diet Coke hunk, a lawnmower and a Chinook helicopter from Coke and Heineken, which led to Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) adjudications.

Complaints were upheld against Heineken (you can watch the videos below) while Coke must also withdraw or alter another advert showing various ways to burn ‘139 Calories’.

Here 10 viewers complained that none of the individual activities – from dog walking to dancing – were sufficient to burn off the 139 calories in a can of standard Coke.

Although it accepted Coke’s defense that the advert (the French version is below) adds up the calories burnt in each exercise to reach 139, the ASA ordered that the ad not be broadcast again in its current form.

“We noted…that the complainants had understood that each of the individual activities depicted could burn off 139 calories,” the ASA panel said.

Coca-Cola '139 Happy Calories'