ADVERTS for grocery delivery service Gorillas have been banned for featuring offensive references to drugs, sex and excessive or unhealthy drinking.
The TV, video on demand and social media ads, seen in April last year, featured a series of short scenes, starting with a man chopping lemons as the voiceover stated "London loves acid."
Other scenes included a voiceover saying "poppers" as a cork popped off a Champagne bottle, "getting smashed" as a woman mashed avocado, and "blow" as a woman sneezed, and "a bit of grind" while a man scrubbed a bathroom floor and "getting wet" as a man showered and a second person's arm cleaned his chest.
The TikTok and Instagram ads featured a hungover man saying: "So I just woke up. Slightly hungover ... Literally delivered in minutes. Eggs. Sourdough. A few beers obviously. If the hangover doesn't go."
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 26 complaints that the ads made references to sex, drugs and excessive drinking, normalised and condoned drug use and were inappropriate for children to see.
Gorillas said it did not consider the scenes to be graphic, inflammatory or offensive and believed that sexually suggestive ads that used humour were acceptable within the wider context of the ad.
The firm said it did not condone illegal drugs or drug use but understood that a reference to drugs in advertising may be acceptable as long as the ad did not condone illegal, drug-related behaviour.
TikTok said the ad was targeted at users aged 18 and above but had been removed from the platform because it violated its policy prohibiting the promotion of alcohol.
The ASA said the references to "blow" and "acid" would be widely understood as referring to illegal drugs. Poppers, while legal to purchase, could not be sold as products for human consumption.
The ASA said presenting drugs as a subject of humour would be seen to have encouraged apathy towards dangerous substances.
Similarly, "hitting the bottle" and "getting smashed" would be understood as unhealthy or irresponsible behaviours related to alcohol.
It also noted that the ad made several references that some would interpret as explicitly sexual in nature with no relevance to the advertiser's service.
Ruling that the ads must not appear again, the ASA said: "We concluded that the ads were irresponsible and likely to cause serious or widespread offence.
"We told Gorillas to ensure that future ads did not feature references to drugs, sex and excessive or unhealthy drinking that were likely to cause serious or widespread offence or be seen as irresponsible."
Gorillas said in a statement: "We fully accept and understand today's ASA ruling. The 'Whatever London Wants' campaign was designed to celebrate the way customers shop in a light-hearted and humorous way.
"It was never our intention to cause offence to members of the public and we sincerely apologise for any upset it may have caused.
"We'd like to emphasise that Gorillas do not condone illegal drug use or irresponsible drinking.
"Gorillas respect the recommendations made by the ASA and have no further plans to promote the campaign in future."
