Magaluf booze cruise ad banned

An online advert for a sunset ‘booze cruise’ in the party resort of Magaluf has been banned for promoting excessive drinking and ‘linking alcohol with sexual success’.

The organiser, Magaluf Events, was also criticised by advertising watchdogs for using photos of drinkers who appeared to be under 25.

The advert for the summer 2018 booze cruise on magalufevents.com last December stated: "You’ll see the mayhem we cause on the Mediterranean is unrivalled anywhere on the planet!…with an UNLIMITED FREE bar for THREE hours you’re onboard. We also include FREE shots of Sambuca, Apple Sourz, Skittle Vodka! We promise you will walk on the boat but we’ll have you crawling off!… Event Duration 3 hours BAR Unlimited FREE BAR".

At the bottom of the web page there were 18 photos, taken on previous cruises, which featured two women kissing, one woman drinking from a spirits bottle and a man rubbing his face into a woman’s chest.

Magaluf Events said it had consent forms from those photographed stating they were over 25 but, in banning the ad, the Advertising Standards Authority said such evidence was not provided.

The ASA also said its advertising code required marketing communications to be ‘socially responsible and contain nothing that was likely to lead people to adopt styles of drinking that were unwise, including encouraging excessive drinking’.

"We considered that the large amount of alcohol offered within the time frame specified, combined with the phrase ‘we’ll have you crawling off!’ and the gallery image of a woman shown to be drinking from a spirit bottle, promoted excessive consumption of alcohol, which was further emphasised by the event title ‘Sunset Booze Cruise’ and was therefore in breach of the Code," it said.

"We also considered the images of attendees holding up signs with the text ‘I’m behaving badly on Sunset Booze Cruise’, ‘Single as F***’ and ‘I left my boyfriend back in England’ were sexually suggestive and implied that those attending the event would be sexually successful," it added.

"We considered that the ad’s emphasis on the large quantities of alcohol offered and the inclusion of the images selected from the image gallery to promote the Booze Cruise event linked alcohol with sexual activity and therefore breached the Code."

Magaluf Events acknowledged that there were issues with elements of its content and images regarding the promotion of sexual activity and alcohol consumption and said it was willing to make changes to its website.

In banning the original ad, the ASA told the company to ensure that its future advertising was ‘socially responsible, did not encourage excessive drinking or feature those who appeared to be under 25 years of age drinking alcohol or playing a significant role, and did not link alcohol to sexual activity’.

The ASA has also banned an advert by Megabus offering fares from £1 after the company admitted as few as one seat per coach was available at that price. A Megabus spokeswoman said future marketing would have a different focus.

However, the watchdog dismissed a complaint that TUI was guilty of misleading advertising after a customer was flown home on an aircraft that was different from the promise 787 Dreamliner.

TUI explained to the ASA that its bookings terms and conditions warned that occasionally it might be necessary to change the advertised aircraft type due to unforeseen circumstances.

The ASA said: "While we acknowledged that those occasions when a Dreamliner was not available could result in customer disappointment, given the very low incidence of such occasions, and the fact that they only occurred in circumstances that were beyond TUI’s control, we concluded that the ad was unlikely to materially mislead consumers."