Your absurd suggestion of the day

In the United Kingdom, Sky News reports on a helpful suggestion made by the (privately run) Advertising Standards Authority: Drinks companies have been ordered to use uglier men in their advertising campaigns. The Advertising Standards Authority believes “balding” and “paunchy” men would be less likely to encourage women to drink to achieve social success. The ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

In the United Kingdom, Sky News reports on a helpful suggestion made by the (privately run) Advertising Standards Authority:

In the United Kingdom, Sky News reports on a helpful suggestion made by the (privately run) Advertising Standards Authority:

Drinks companies have been ordered to use uglier men in their advertising campaigns. The Advertising Standards Authority believes “balding” and “paunchy” men would be less likely to encourage women to drink to achieve social success. The new advertising code stresses that links must not be made between alcohol and seduction. A campaign for popular sparkling drink Lambrini has become the first to fall foul of the new rules. The Authority objected to a poster which showed three women “hooking” a slim, young man in a parody of a fairground game. The industry regulator instructed the 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.”

Hat tip to Simon Says for the link. Oh, and for those Brits reading who want to voice a response to the ASA’s suggestion, here’s a link to their complaint page.

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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