Vicky Pattison and Ercan Ramadan told off by ASA for wedding-day advert that glamorised smoking

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An advert filmed on the day of the wedding of two reality stars has been rapped by the regulator for glamorising smoking.

Former The Only Way is Essex star Ercan Ramadan married Vicky Pattison, who found fame on Geordie Shore, last year.

On October Ramadan put out an Instagram post which showed himself lighting a cigar, and then a group of seven groomsmen standing behind the bridal couple, all also holding or smoking a cigar.

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A caption underneath, said the Advertising Standards Authority, read: “La Familia [black heart emoji] Groom & Groomsman suited by @endrickclothing [smoke emoji]”. The post, which was authored by @ercan_ram and two others, was shared on Pattison’s Instagram account on October 11. Ramadan is a director of Endrick Clothing.

Vicky Pattison and Ercan RamadanVicky Pattison and Ercan Ramadan
Vicky Pattison and Ercan Ramadan | Getty Images

In a report outlining the complaints and its investigation, the ASA said that two complaints were made. Both people who complained said that the advert glamorised smoking and suggested it was irresponsible. One of the complainants questioned whether it had been correctly flagged as an advert.

The ASA asked Ramadan and Endrick Clothing for their views but said it did not get a response. It said that Pattison “did not provide a substantive response to the ASA’s enquiries on point 1” [glamorising smoking] but that she did “[confirm] that any of her posts that featured Endrick Clothing would be labelled as ads in future.”

The ASA has said it is “concerned” by Endrick Clothing and Ercan Ramadan’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) Code.

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A statement said: “We reminded them of their responsibility to provide a substantive response to our enquiries and told them to do so in future. The CAP Code stated that marketing communications must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society. The video began with a close up shot of Ercan Ramadan, the central figure and bridegroom, lighting a cigar. He continued to smoke the cigar throughout the video. The seven groomsmen surrounding him were either smoking cigars or holding them; only the bride did not smoke. The characters did not speak or engage in any other activity.

“While we acknowledged the ad was for menswear products, we considered that the ad’s principal focus was on smoking and that it was depicted as an enjoyable group activity. We considered that the use of slow motion, the formal setting and the jazz-style music added to the stylised and aspirational tone. We considered that the video presented smoking in an appealing manner and suggested that it was part of a glamourous and aspirational lifestyle.

“For that reason, we concluded that the ads were irresponsible.”

On that point, the ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.3 (Social responsibility).

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It added: “We understood that Ercan Ramadan was a director of Endrick Clothing. The post, which featured groom and groomsmen’s outfits by Endrick Clothing, therefore promoted his own brand. Because the post was in non-paid for space under Ercan Ramadan’s control, and was directly connected to the sale of goods, we concluded that it was a marketing communication that fell within the ASA’s remit.”

The ASA said it was not made clear enough what the connection is between Ramadan and Endrick Clothing and that “viewers would not necessarily understand that Ercan Ramadan was promoting his own brand. We therefore considered the commercial intent of the ad was unclear, and that the post needed to have included a prominent label upfront, identifying it as an ad, which it did not have.”

Ramadan has been given a rap on the knuckles and told that the ad must not appear again in the way it was published in October. The ASA has also told him to flag up ads properly and to “ensure that future ads were socially responsible, in particular by not condoning or encouraging smoking.”

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