Coca-Cola ad 'broke' safety rules
A commercial for a Coca-Cola sports drink broke advertising rules because it showed potentially “hazardous” cycling conditions, a UK industry watchdog said today.
The Powerade advert featured a cyclist riding without lights or reflective clothing on poorly lit roads.
After an investigation, the Advertising Standards Authority found the commercial breached the advertising code’s health and safety rules.
The Powerade commercial could imply reflective clothing and lights aren’t needed for cycling in poor visibility, the watchdog said.
“We were concerned that the ad could be seen to condone hazardous cycling and therefore concluded that it breached the code,” the ASA ruled.
It told Coca-Cola to take health and safety issues into account when producing future adverts.
Advertising agency McCann Erickson, responding on behalf of Coca-Cola, said the commercial had been shot on a late March afternoon but lack of lighting made it look later in the day.
Safety precautions were taken during filming and the cyclist had been visible to passing traffic, the firm said.
