'Getting out of it' is banned by watchdog

A poster for Eurostar that encourages young people to get "out of it" in Paris has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The watchdog has ruled that the poster featuring three excited-looking men alongside the line: "From up for it to out of it via every club in Paris" could encourage drinking to excess and irresponsible behaviour. It is the third campaign from Eurostar that has been censured by the watchdog in the past 12 months following complaints from the public.

Undeterred, Eurostar will launch another campaign on Sunday encouraging people to invent excuses for a day off work so that they can take a day trip to Europe. "The company is forcing the British population to make a radical, unflinching, uncompromising reappraisal of its behaviour by offering summer passengers what it calls the perfect excuse to take a day off," said a spokesperson.

The campaign will include flyposters and radio ads promoting standard-class day returns to Lille, Paris and Brussels. Customers are offered a whole host of lame excuses to secure them time off work, including "I can't find my shoes" and "My goldfish died and I'm too distraught".