Aromatic Ads Deemed Not Harmful to Addicts

A British advertising watchdog rejected complaints that a movie ad showing a gin and tonic being mixed while the aroma of juniper berries was released in the theater was a threat to recovering alcoholics. The Advertising Standards Authority said in its monthly report that the advertisement for Gordon’s Gin, created by ad agency Leo Burnett for United Distillers, “was unlikely to seriously distress or harm recovering alcoholics.” The ASA said it “asked the advertisers to reflect carefully on the complainant’s concerns if they intended to extend” the ad on a more widespread basis. Leo Burnett is based in Chicago. United Distillers, owned by Guinness, said that smell alone was not a significant influence on alcohol addiction and that tests of the aroma ads in movies and on magazine pages infused with the scent had not prompted complaints.