An email advert from Manchester-based brand Koi Footwear has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The email appeared on 2 April 2025, and text featured on the ad stated: “Take two and call us in the morning [pill emoji] [pill emoji]”. The body of the email included a photo of a syringe and a vial containing pink liquid.

The vial included text on the side which stated, “Koi”. Additional text on the ad said: ” Side effects: May include obsession.”

The watchdog investigated the work after a complainant raised concerns that the ad glamourised drug use. They also challenged it on the basis that it was offensive as it encouraged or condoned drug use.

Koi Footwear responded to the accusations, highlighting that the ad was inspired by Japanese subcultures and video game references, such as the Silent Hill Franchise.

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The brand believed that the imagery used was intended to be a tongue-in-cheek reference to transformation and wasn’t intended to reference substance abuse.

According to the CAP Code, “marketing communications must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society”. The ASA considered KOI Footwear’s response that the ad was intended to be “surreal and fictional”, however, it believed that recipients of the email would interpret the email literally, “as drug-related”.

The regulator concluded the ad “condoned and encouraged drug use, and was therefore irresponsible, and likely to cause serious and widespread offence”.

The ASA upheld the ruling, stating that the ad must not appear in the form complained of again.