The Times

HAS George Clooney sold his last Martini? Will macho heart-throbs never again seduce women into taking another glass?

Drinks companies have been ordered to hire paunchy, balding men for advertisements to meet new rules forbidding any link between women’s drinking and sex. Watchdogs have issued a list of undesirable male characteristics that advertisers must abide by in order to comply with tougher rules designed to separate alcohol from sexual success.

Lambrini, the popular sparkling drink, is the first to suffer. Its manufacturers have complained after watchdogs rejected its latest campaign because it depicted women flirting with a man who was deemed too attractive.

The offending poster featured three women “hooking” a slim, young man in a parody of a fairground game scene. Harmless fun to lead its summer campaign, Lambrini argued.

But the Committee of Advertising Practice declared: “We would advise that the man in the picture should be unattractive — overweight, middle-aged, balding etc.”

The ruling continued: “We consider that the advert is in danger of implying that the drink may bring sexual/social success, because the man in question looks quite attractive and desirable to the girls. If the man was clearly unattractive, we think that this implication would be removed.”

The ruling comes after ministers’ warnings to the drinks industry to take measures to tackle binge-drinking or face legislation.

The new CAP code instructs that “links must not be made between alcohol and seduction, sexual activity or sexual success”. Romance and flirtation are not forbidden but adverts must not be aimed at the under-18s or use celebrities in a “sexy” or “cool” manner.

The Bacardi adverts that turned Vinnie Jones into a “party animal” would now be banned, and the measure could affect George Clooney’s £2.5million deal to advertise Martini.

The similarly desirable Brad Pitt reportedly earned £4 million for his recent Heineken advert, which was shown mainly in America. However, the family-sized Peter Kay will presumably be approved to retain his John Smith’s contract.

Lambrini’s makers complained that the ruling was offensive to a large tranche of the male population. Are Jack Nicholson, Bruce Willis, Sean Connery and Ray Winstone unattractive to women, the company asked? John Halewood, the Lambrini owner, said: “The watchdog makes some very understandable rulings to encourage sensible drinking but we’re not sure they’re qualified to decide for the nation who’s sexy and who’s not. “Beauty is, after all, in the eye of the beholder.” Lambrini has now recreated its advert employing a balding, male figure whose lack of pulchritude has proved acceptable to the watchdog.

.....but will it hit sirens of screen?

ADVERTISERS have reluctantly accepted that the blatant association of alcohol with sexual opportunity has come to an end

Campaigns requiring a rethink include the Carling advert showing a man licking up beer which has been dribbled around a flat by a scantily clad female

Baileys echoed that campaign with a commercial in which a woman sniffed the breath of presentable men in a bar to discover which one had snaffled her drink

Further adverts sparking criticism included Gordon’s Gin, which introduced the concept of “strip chess”

The Boddingtons beer adverts with Melanie Sykes, the Mancunian model, would be among the first to fall foul of the new ruling. Ms Sykes helped boost sales from £50 million to £300 million in four years in the 1990s

One of the most popular series of television adverts ever could equally face being taken off screen under the ruling. The Cinzano series in the late 1970s played on the humour of the many ways in which bungling Leonard Rossiter could pour his drink over an alluring Joan Collins

Smirnoff’s may have to rethink its campaign following it’s ‘Opera House’ adverts in which a passionate and attractive couple have to pretend, in order to cover up their noisy activities, the woman is going into labour