Ricky Gervais claims '100 million people' saw his 'banned' adverts on London underground as TfL responds
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing
It looks like Ricky Gervais might have fooled us all after complaining that his controversial Dutch Barn vodka 'adverts' on the London underground were taken down.
The comedian, 64, has been moaning on social media about the London underground allegedly banning his so-called vodka billboards because they were too offensive.
Some of the ads he claims were rejected read: “One day you’ll be underground for good,” “Dutch Barn, your tube driver’s favourite drink in the morning,” “Welcome to London, don’t forget your stab vest,” and “Enjoy life you’ll be dead soon.”
Advert
Gervais, who has maintained the belief that a joke will never be anything more than a joke, hit out at the ‘cowardly f**king c**ts as his fans asked him to 'never change'.
Others, meanwhile, have been offended by the seemingly fake advertisements joking about suicide and knife crime, two very prevalent issues in our society.
Gervais' 'free speech' rant goes viral
“One that was meant for the tube station just had me having a drink, and it just said, ‘one day you’ll be underground for good’. That was it,” The Office creator, who co-owns Dutch Barn Vodka, said.
“They went, ‘no, can’t have that’. Because it might make people think because life’s short, we should drink to excess. Who’s f**king thinking that?
“Oh my God, cowardly f**king c***s. Do you think it’s my attitude? But you can’t win, because you’re not allowed to say alcohol’s good for you or it does think or it makes you feel confident or it makes you feel attractive.
"Which is fine. I went the other way."
TfL say Gervais never got in touch with them
After his rants went viral on social media, Transport for London (TfL) insisted that Gervais never even got in touch with them about the adverts.
“These adverts were never referred to TfL or their advertising partners for consideration. Alternative creatives for Dutch Barn have been accepted and are running on our network,” they told LADbible in a statement.
And it seems Gervais may have had us all on after tweeting that 'the Dutch Barn billboards meant for the London Underground have been seen by about 100 million people online'.
"Our subscriptions are through the roof and we've saved a ton of cash. And some donkeys. Thanks again, you lovely people," he said.
"So, we've had 30,000 new subscribers for our Dutch Barn mailing list over the weekend. I can't tell you how amazing that is."
Commenting on what seemed like a marketing scheme, one fan wrote: "Your devilish plan was skillfully brought to fruition and has performed above expectations. Well played, sir."
"Amazing how the free publicity from it works out better than any advert on the tube would’ve," a second penned.
LADbible contacted Gervais’ reps and Dutch Barn for comment.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123 or contact Harmless by visiting their website https://harmless.org.uk.
Topics: Ricky Gervais, UK News, Celebrity
Anish Vij