White Claw has retired its ‘student wavemakers’ campaign, after the ASA adjudged social media posts from the hard seltzer brand featured people that seemed to be, or who were, under 25.
The offending content comprised a trio of posts that appeared in a ‘highlight’ section of the White Claw UK Instagram page under the label ‘wavemakers’. It was identified by the ASA’s AI-powered Active Ad Monitoring System.
The first, reposted from user @megharris._ on 24 October 2025, featured an image of polaroid pictures of young people holding cans of White Claw. The second, reposted from @maxbrown05 on 6 November 2025, featured a group of young people wearing fancy dress costumes and holding cans of White Claw.
A third, reposted from @riedlfit on 9 November 2025, featured an overhead photo of several people standing in a circle, with only their lower bodies visible, each holding a can of White Claw.
All three adverts featured the White Claw logo in the top right corner, and the hashtag #studentwavemakers.
The people in the first two posts had “a youthful appearance”, The ASA said, noting those in the first had “minimal make-up and outfits” and those in the second were “dressed in fancy dress… on what appeared to be a night out”.
Although the people in the third post were not fully visible, the post was clearly part of the same #studentwavemakers campaign as the previous two posts, the watchdog said.
This therefore “implied the people in the ad were students” and were unlikely to be over the age of 25, it added.
Banning the posts from appearing again in their current form, an ASA spokeswoman said: “Our rules are clear that alcohol ads mustn’t feature anyone who is, or appears to be, under 25, and this ruling sends a firm reminder to advertisers that we won’t hesitate to act where we see the rules being broken.”
White Claw owner Mark Anthony Brands said it had removed the ‘wavemakers’ highlight from its Instagram page and instructed its social media team to discontinue the use of the hashtag #studentwavemakers.
It said it was undertaking a comprehensive audit of its social media to ensure all content is aligned with internal marketing and responsible advertising guidelines. It would also conduct refresher training with its social media team, it added.
“Mark Anthony is fully compliant with the ASA ruling and we have no further comment at this time,” a spokesman for the supplier said.
No comments yet