Alcohol ads featuring rapper ArrDee banned for encouraging ‘excessive’ drinking

Alcohol brand Litty Liquor’s ads have been banned after the advertising watchdog deemed them “irresponsible” and said they “encouraged excessive drinking”.

The two adverts were posted to the company's Instagram in December.

Both ads featured the 20-year-old rapper ArrDee from Brighton, who has had five top-10 hits in the UK.

One of the ads features the 20-year-old rapper ArrDee surrounded by rum bottles in a distillery.

Another showed him dancing in a nightclub, which cuts to a final scene of Litty Liqour’s products along with the on-screen text “#GETLIT”.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received a complaint that the ads breached advertising rules because they featured someone who was under-25 and encouraged the excessive and irresponsible consumption of alcohol.

The ASA said: “We understood that the word ‘lit’ had a long history of being used as a slang term for being drunk.

“We noted that in recent years the term ‘lit’ had also been used in rap music to mean that something was exciting, or of an excellent quality.

However, they concluded that the location of the ads, along with the phrase “#GETLIT” was likely to “encourage excessive consumption of alcohol”.

Litty Liquor has confirmed that ArrDee was under 25 at the time the ads were published.

They have apologised and accepted this was a breach of rules, adding they understood how the phrase “#GETLIT” could have been perceived as promoting excessive and irresponsible consumption.

The company said they intended to promote their products in a “responsible and appropriate” manner.

The ads have been removed and the company have said they would be reviewing its advertising policies and procedures to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...