Alcohol adverts featuring rapper ArrDee have been banned

31 May, 2023

ArrDee

Adverts for the brand Litty Liquor that feature rapper and founder ArrDee have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The ASA found that two of the brand’s adverts posted on Instagram last December featuring ArrDee breached its Cap Code for featuring someone under the age of 25.

4Realli, a spiced rum was the first product in the rapper’s Litty Liquor range which was launched last year. The advert posted for the product featured shots of ArrDee – real name Riley Davies – trying a series of different alcoholic drinks in a nightclub environment, before creating his own blend of spiced rum in a distillery, then drinking it in a nightclub where he was joined by a larger crowd. The text ‘#GETLIT’ was shown on the screen.

The ASA challenged the use of the phrase “Get Lit” which was thought to have encouraged excessive and irresponsible consumption of alcohol. They shared: “We understood that the word ‘lit’ had a long history of being used as a slang term for being drunk, and that it had also become popular within the rap music scene to indicate being intoxicated.”

They continued: “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, because the ad was focused on the creation and consumption of an alcoholic drink, and was set in a nightclub and a distillery, we considered that consumers would likely associate the phrase “#GETLIT” … to relate to the consumption of alcohol, and becoming intoxicated.”

“We therefore considered that the ad was likely to encourage excessive consumption of alcohol,” they added.

Litty Liquor responded to the complaints by apologising for including the rapper in the advertisements and removed the ads posted to their official Instagram account. The company added that they understood how the phrase “#GETLIT” could have been perceived as promoting excessive and irresponsible alcohol consumption, but said it intended to promote their products in a responsible and appropriate manner.

They also shared they would be reviewing their advertising policies and procedures in order to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future.

In other news, ArrDee recently collaborated with Cat Burns on the track ‘Home For My Heart’. The track tells the story of a relationship breakdown, with the Brighton rapper detailing the pressures of balancing his recent success with his personal life.

It was his first new track since his return in January with fiery single ‘Loser’, which followed his 2022 mixtape ‘Pier Pressure’. Reviewing the mixtape upon release, NME wrote: “ArrDee plasters the record with drill beats, quality rhymes and nightclub belters befitting his character, ensuring that ‘Pier Pressure’ provides a clear snapshot of a rapper very much on the rise.”

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