The Advertising Standards Authority has settled a complaint related to a series of gin products containing the use of the f-word.
The products, which are sold by alcoholic beverage company Good George Brewing, did not reach the threshold to cause serious or widespread offence, under the Advertising Standards Code by the view of the majority of the board.
Labelled the f***ery series, the series of products began in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, under the name “official gin of the ongoing clusterf***”. A new product has released in the series each year since.
Eight products in total were included in the complaint, which was filed by Communities Against Alcohol Harm.
The products were: F*** Off 2020, For F***’s Sake 2021, What’s F***ing Next 2022, What Sort of F***ery is this?!, The F*** Stops Here 2023, F*** This Shit 2024, F*** Off 2024 (Black Edition), and The F***ening 2025.
The complaints board made a range of findings on why the product names did not breach advertising standards.
One pointed to amended product names to include an asterisk in the f-word. Previously, the word was uncensored.
Another finding suggested the advertisement was less likely to cause serious widespread offence as the advertisement “only appears on the Good George website/social media and digital retail platforms”. The board said these were all considered “alcohol-purchase environments” accessed almost exclusively to those aged 18 and over.
It also pointed to the f-word being no longer treated as an offensive term, and the "humorous and satirical contexts substantially increase acceptability".
The board also observed each product name, and provided a takeout or meaning from the perspective of the consumer, and deciding they were not offensive in nature.
For example, it said the consumer inference from the F*** Off 2020 Gin label was: "This is the gin to drink when you want Covid and its associated restrictions to be over. It’s saying farewell or go away to a universally difficult year."
As for the F*** Off 2024 Gin (Black Edition), the board said the takeout was “a repeat of the 2020 original, but with a black label”.
"It’s saying, farewell or go away to another difficult year."
Communities Against Alcohol Harm also filed a complaint related to Good George’s Crisis Management Pack, which consisted of two bottles of gin and a bottle of tonic.
On the Good George website, the Crisis Management Pack contained the following copy: “When life throws a year like 2025 at you, sometimes the only strategy is to pour a stiff G&T and ride it out. The Crisis Management Pack is your emergency kit for surviving clusterf***s large and small.
"Disclaimer: Won’t fix your problems, but will make them a hell of a lot funnier.”
The board acknowledged the advertisement suggested the effects of consuming alcohol could improve or enhance a situation, “and this was not responsible”.
“The board said the complaint about this advertising would have been upheld but noted the website advertisement had been removed and therefore this aspect of the complaint was settled.”
Complaint lodged 'concerned with harm'
In response to the board’s decision, Communities Against Alcohol Harm community affairs advisor Nathan Cowie said: “If you want to drop f-bombs in your advertising, now you can, thanks to a new decision from the Advertising Standards Authority”.
"We submitted a complaint on behalf of a concerned community stakeholder who works as a counsellor dealing with the aftermath of sexual assault and alcohol abuse. They were concerned about the harm they see from alcohol in the community, and the incredibly poor standards of social responsibility on display from this advertiser."
"The Advertising Standards Complaints Board has not upheld parts of this complaint related to the liberal use of f-bombs in the naming, labelling and advertising of these products.
"Unless fixed by a higher authority, this creates a precedent where advertising standards are very permissive of profanity, and the bar for a high standard of social responsibility is significantly lowered."
On the complaint related to the Crisis Management Pack, Cowie said the board "failed to pick up on the advertiser’s suggestion that these products, stylised as the ‘official gin of the ongoing clusterf***’ would enhance a situation they have labelled an ongoing clusterf***."
"The real clusterf*** here is the lowering of standards of advertising self-regulation, and the cavalier attitude of the alcohol industry to marketing their harmful products."
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