A pub landlord who has come under fire by advertising chiefs for a provocative social media post which used Nazi imagery said he will not stop his controversial marketing ploys.
Craig Harker said controversial posts promoting The Buck Inn, in Sadberge, County Durham, were ‘tongue in cheek, a bit of fun’ and that he would continue to market ‘in the way we do’ as long as people kept visiting his pubs.
It is not the first time the 30-year-old has been criticised by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), following a complaint regarding an advert for another of his venues which asked customers ‘would you punch your ex in the face for a parmo’ was upheld last year.
Craig Harker, 30, said he will not be deterred from using controversial techniques to promote his business in the future
In September, his controversial Facebook post for a ‘German Grub Night’ featured the phrases ‘Graham Ze Chef’, ‘Don’t Mention Ze War’ and also showed a black and white cartoon soldier wearing a swastika and performing a Nazi salute, the ASA ruled.
The Buck Inn defended the post, claiming it was a quote from hit TV series Fawlty Towers and was intended to be ‘light hearted and humorous’ – and not promoting the Nazi party’ or mocking the history of the war in any way.
Harker told the Gazette: ‘It was all tongue in cheek, a bit of fun – these are things I grew up watching, things like ‘Allo ‘Allo.
‘They asked me why I liked comments left by people about it, but we like all comments on the page.
‘The night was a massive success, everyone was dressed up like Oktoberfest.
One such controversial post included an advertisement for its German night which used Nazi imagery
The pub also used the phrase ‘Don’t mention ze war’, which it claimed was a reference to the TV show Fawlty Towers
‘On the night, I dressed up as Hitler. The locals loved it.
‘The Bratwurst curry went down really well, everyone loved the German food.’
His pub’s social media post advertising a parmo night also angered domestic violence groups last year.
Harker added: ‘I wasn’t surprised there were complaints, it always upsets someone when we do a bit of marketing.
‘Hundreds of thousands of people saw [the Buck Inn] post, and there were three complaints.
The Buck Inn, in Sadberge, County Durham, has used controversial marketing techniques in the past
‘The [George] post was seen by 6.5 MILLION – and we only got one complaint.
‘Both pubs are doing well.
‘As long as people keep coming here, we will keep marketing in the way we do.’
The young landlord said he has ‘transformed’ the Buck Inn and that he plans to open more venues in the near future, and he has already opened Oscar’s Gin Bar in Stockton’s Regent Quarter.
The ASA has ruled in favour of the three complaints which were made against his German night advertisement, ruling they must not appear in their ‘current form’ again.
The board acknowledged the phrase ‘Don’t mention the war’ was associated with Fawlty Towers, they said the use of Nazi imagery trivialised the Second World War.
They ruled: ‘Furthermore, the ad appeared to link German culture intrinsically with Nazi Germany and the war.
‘We therefore considered the advert was likely to cause serious or widespread offence
‘In particular we considered that the Buck Inn’s ‘liking’ of various comments by other users on their Facebook page, many of which contained distasteful jokes and puns in reference to the Holocaust, was also likely to cause serious or widespread offence.’