Does coffee make you jumpy? It shouldn’t

https://twitter.com/Teunvandekeuken/status/880378774717648896

Coffee maker Douwe Egberts has withdrawn an advertising campaign based on young people jumping from bridges after being criticised for featuring dangerous behaviour, reports the Telegraaf.

The coffee brand had been promoting cans of its iced coffee saying – in English – ‘not your parents’ coffee’, with an image of young people somersaulting from a bridge.

But the Dutch water authority has protested that for years it has been advising against doing this.

A spokesperson told the Telegraaf: ‘It looks like fun, but we hope that people do not do this. People have died after jumping from bridges….In the poster, you can see boats to one side. These also take to the water and a sailor cannot always see you if you jump, just as you can hardly see them.’

The organisation pointed out that a drastic change in body temperature from diving into water can be dangerous, as can shallow water or objects like shopping trolleys and bikes on the bottom. People are, reports the Telegraaf, regularly wounded and one has even died.

Douwe Egberts told the paper: ‘Our campaign…is aimed at young people who have fun together. Given the urgent advice from the water authority against swimming in rivers and canals, or jumping from bridges, we will withdraw it as soon as possible.

‘It has never been our intention to encourage such behaviour.’