Don't shave me', say ad chiefs

Published: 23 July, 2008

Blavod Extreme Spirits, which produces a black vodka, has been forced to amend its first-ever national TV advertising campaign, after an industry watchdog objected to the words shave me'.

The advert shows a woman writhing in a bath and asking her partner to shave me'. The ad then shows the woman with a freshly shaven bald head, before the two settle back and enjoy a glass of Blavod.

The ad was deemed too offensive by the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre, so Blavod agreed to take out the shave me' line - despite the ad running last year on television and in the cinema without any complaints.

Blavod MD Richard Ambler said: I just think it's ridiculous, especially since we didn't get a single complaint. You expect at least one from your competitors and one from an old lady who writes letters of complaint as a habit. We feel that the consumer is savvy enough to work out the advert for themselves.'

Under the Ofcom alcohol advertising code, companies are not allowed to link alcohol consumption with social or sexual success, but Ofcom said last year that as long as links

to youth culture are avoided, there is little potential for social harm in alcohol advertising being linked, in a grown-up way, to romance.'

But Ambler, who told Harpers that the company plans to appeal against the decision, pointed out that the couple in the advert are clearly in a long-term relationship', and they put on clothes, not take them off.

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