The Advertising Standards Authority, which took over broadcast regulation earlier this month, pulled the ad after nine complaints, including one from two viewers who had lost an 11-year-old child in an accident involving concrete pipework.
Britvic, owner of Tango, had already said that it would not show the ad again and has apologised for any offence that caused. In formally banning the ad, the ASA ruled it was in breach of rules regarding health and safety, and children and physical harm.
"Goat on a rope" is the latest execution in a series of ads by Clemmow Hornby Inge, where people are shown going to extreme lengths to crush fruit. It uses the strapline "You know when you've been Tango'd".
The brand is no stranger to controversial advertising -- a 2000 spot by HHCL/Red Cell was banned by the regulator after people complained it encouraged bullying. The spot, which showed a non-Tango drinker's house being invaded by bully boys, inspired a new addition to the advertising code when it was reviewed in 2002.
The Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre defended its decision to pass the ad for screening with an ex-kids restriction, which meant it could not be shown during childen's programming. It said it strongly disagreed it could encourage dangerous play that would lead to accidents. It said it believed the ad, in a field with a goat, was surreal and the treatment was improbable, and only the very young would not realise it was part of a series of ads for Tango.
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