MTV rapped over Geordie Shore alcohol ads

MTV has been reprimanded for screening 22 alcohol adverts during episodes of reality TV show Geordie Shore, despite all of them airing after the 9pm watershed.

The Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) compliance team made complaints against the network in relation to alcohol adverts aired during eight episodes of the show, which it claimed inappropriately targeted under 18s despite the adverts being aired after the 9pm watershed.

Under the UK advertising code, alcohol adverts are banned from appearing in or around programmes targeted at or likely to appeal to under-18s. However programmes likely to appeal to under-18s are also banned, identified through audience indexing which calculates the likely number of 10 to 15-year-olds watching in relation to the audience as a whole. Any show that attracts an audience of 10 to 15-year-olds that is 20% or more above the norm, referred to as an index of 120 or more, is not allowed to air alcohol adverts.

MTV challenged the ASA arguing that Geordie Shore is a reality show with “extreme content” and that “no attempt had ever been made to make the programme appeal to under-18s”.

“Alcohol ads were not scheduled before 9pm and there was a content warning before the start of Geordie Shore and after each break that advised that the show was unsuitable for children,” said MTV, which added that it could not be held responsible for the age of viewers post the 9pm watershed.

However the ASA disagreed arguing that “a reality show featuring cast members in their late teens and early twenties could appeal to under-18s, particularly when broadcast in the 9pm-to-9.59pm time slot”.

“We considered that action should have been taken to restrict alcohol ads in the programmes when recent data indicated they were likely to appeal particularly to under-18s,” said ASA in a statement.