Woolshed on Hindley twice breached standards with Facebook posts, rules Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code Scheme
The Woolshed breached ad standards twice – in two posts which featured a child and encouraged binge drinking, according to a national code.
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A video of a child dancing with the text “I don’t really like tequila, but one shot won’t hurt” is among online marketing by the Woolshed on Hindley that breached standards within a national code.
The Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code Scheme (ABAC) has ruled the venue twice breached “community standards regarding responsible alcohol use” late last year, following complaints .
One Facebook post included the line about tequila, followed by the text “three hours later” and the video of the child dancing.
ABAC said children should not feature in alcohol-related marketing, and such marketing should not suggest alcohol would cause or contribute to a significant mood change.
“The video would not itself be a breach of the code,” its report said.
“It is the combination of the video with the text which gives the post its message.”
It said liquor licence holders should not “advertise or permit promotion of their business in a way that tends to encourage the rapid or excessive consumption of liquor, or that discourages a responsible attitude to the consumption of liquor”.
The second instance was a post asking users to tag “someone who can relate to the struggles of a Sunday hangover” (with a graphic that said “I think I sprained my liver”) for a chance to win a $150 drinks voucher.
That was ruled to be encouraging binge drinking.
A division of Ad Standards, the ABAC is a voluntary, industry-funded scheme, managed by a committee of largely industry representatives.
Woolshed on Hindley is a not a signatory and is not bound by the code, but in both instances took down the offending material.
In most such cases, companies comply with ABAC decisions even if they are not signatories. But according to ABAC, there was a third instance in 2019 where Woolshed did not take down a post.
The Hindley St venue’s manager Jase Luth said: “The Woolshed takes seriously its obligations regarding the responsible service and advertising of alcohol and will endeavour to ensure that as far as possible, no offence is caused to members of the public. The Woolshed on Hindley’s Facebook page utilises Facebook’s in-built age filter to prevent people under the age of 18 seeing, interacting and commenting on our content.”
While not bound by ABAC , Mr Luth said the Woolshed “observes relevant codes” from the Liquor Licensing Commissioner and Consumer and Business Services.