Beer 'doesn't boost confidence'

London - The beer poster said "Take Courage". Three people took offense, and on Wednesday Britain's advertising watchdog took action.

The Advertising Standards Authority banned posters for Courage beer which used the "Take Courage my friend" slogan which had featured in advertising campaigns from the 1950s to the 1980s.

It was wrong, the ASA said, to imply that beer would boost male confidence.

The poster showed a nervous drinker eyeing a woman in a figure-hugging dress still adorned with sales tags. A speech bubble from his pint glass said, "Take Courage my friend".

The complaints said the poster implied that the beer would give the man confidence to either be rude about the woman's appearance or to take advantage of her.

The brewer, Wells & Young's Brewing Company, said it believed many men would relate to the problem of being asked to comment on a woman's new dress. The company arged that it was clear from the man's expression that he would rather not answer.

The authority said it didn't believe that consumers would believe that the poster suggested that the man would be unnecessarily negative or take advantage, but would simply tell the truth.

Breached advertising code

"Although we understood the humorous intention of the scenario, we concluded that the poster breached the (advertising) code by suggesting that the beer could increase confidence," the Authority ruled.

Chris Lewis, marketing director for the brewer, said the company was disappointed.

"Our intention through this advertising is to portray humorous everyday occurrences which Courage drinkers can relate to," Lewis said.

Wells and Young's was not the first brewer to fall foul of the advertising authority.

In 2004, the ASA banned a Michelob ad which said "Lose the carbs, not the taste". The authority said this wrongly implied that beer was part of a healthy lifestyle.

In 2005, the authority banned an ad by Scottish Courage headlined "passion beyond reason" which showed the scarred torso of a bullfighter with the slogan, "cerveza (beer) de passion."

The authority said the poster linked alcohol with the matador's profession, "where consumption of alcohol would be unwise."

Scottish Courage at the time was owned by Scottish & Newcastle UK, which sold the Courage brand to Wells and Young's in 2007.

Last year, the authority barred an ad for Tiger beer which called it "the Far East's most desirable export since 1932." The ad suggested that another popular export was male transvestites, known as "ladyboys".

- AP