HAMPSHIRE: Bacardi is banking on new low-calorie Breezers to reverse slump in sales

SHE'S glamorous, she's got sexy eyes, she's stick insect thin - and she's holding a bottle of booze.

This is the image Southampton-based Bacardi Martini is hoping will bring back droves of women drinkers who, they fear, may have stopped buying their popular Breezers for fear of putting on weight.

It is hoped the new lo-calorie alcoholic drinks will appeal to diet-conscious female drinkers.

But the campaign has raised eyebrows for using super-thin models to sell alcohol.

The new range of low-calorie alcopops is linked to the fortunes of hundreds of workers in Hampshire.

Bacardi hopes to reverse a slide in the sales of Bacardi Breezer, which led to 30 jobs being axed last month at its bottling factory.

Bacardi, which employs 510 people in the city, hopes the new-taste Bacardi Breezers will find favour with drinkers in their 20s and 30s, as each bottle has about 121 calories.

However, the glamorous images of the super-thin models, next to food-related printed thoughts that might strike a chord with some weight-conscious women, have come under fire for linking alcohol with beauty.

Bacardi has strongly defended the campaign. The company is a prominent member of the Portman Group, the drinks industry watchdog, which promotes responsible drinking and the naming, packing and promotion of alcohol.

Damien Greenfield, an expert in advertising cause-and-effect, said that in his opinion the posters could create the wrong impression for women. He said: "All in all low-calorie alcoholic drinks are just another marketing method of the alcohol industry aimed at enticing women into drinking more."

But Chris Searle, executive director at Bacardi in Southampton, said: "Irrespective of how consumers drink our brands we continue to encourage people to drink responsibly and in moderation.

"We pre-clear all our advertising with an independent organisation and we are not allowed by industry rules to make the inferences that your expert is suggesting."

Andrew Mortimore, director of public health at Southampton City Primary Care Trust, said: "Any suggestion that one drink is better for you than another can distract from the fact that it is the amount of alcohol that you drink and your pattern of drinking which can be the problem. Sensible drinking means staying within the recommended limits and avoiding binge- drinking."