RTE has learned that Twitter has removed an advert for beer brands that used the word ‘wine’ in their branding.
Twitter said the advertisement was removed because it included a non-obvious reference to alcohol, and that it is “not appropriate for the network”.
“We are working hard to remove the ad, which was not intended to be associated with alcohol,” Twitter said.
“We have removed it and will update this story as we learn more.”
The advert, posted in the morning on Wednesday, featured an advertisement for a beer that had the word “wine” in its name, which the brewer said was a reference to its brands’ branding.
In the tweet, the brewer tweeted, “We’ll continue to focus on innovation and making great beers, and we’ll continue exploring the use of other brands as well”.
The brewer’s ad was removed from Twitter, but the tweet was still visible on the brewer’s account.
“We want to take the time to take a moment to thank our loyal fans and the beer industry for their continued support of our brands,” Twitter wrote.
“As we continue to innovate, we are continually looking for new ways to help fans find great beer in new and exciting ways.”
Twitter’s Advertising Guidelines are posted on the company’s website.
They are aimed at promoting Twitter products, services and advertising, but include a section called “Ads and Products” which describes how to identify brands and products.
The guidelines specify that brands should be identifiable through the use “brand name” or “logo” or other distinguishing marks, and “brand messaging” should include a hashtag, hashtag tag, logo or other reference to the brand or product.
“These brands must have a meaningful connection to their brand or service, and the brand must be clearly and prominently displayed in a way that can be easily seen by the average consumer,” the guidelines say.
“For brands that are not identifiable as brands, their branding should be descriptive and non-threatening, and they should be clearly labelled and clearly visible.”
Twitter has been criticised for failing to take steps to identify and remove misleading advertisements that it has deemed to be inappropriate for the platform.
The Advertising Standards Authority said in February it had been investigating more than 1,500 complaints about the use and misuse of Twitter’s Advertising rules, which aim to make the platform “a place for brands to show off their products and services”.