Shoey mural at Geraldton bar The Foreshore gets approved by advertising standards panel

The controversial act of doing a “shoey” has seemingly been given an official tick of approval, with a panel judging advertising standards dismissing a complaint about a mural outside a Geraldton bar.

A complaint was made to the Ad Standards Community Panel after backlash over a mural unveiled in August last year outside The Foreshore depicting UFC fighter Tai Tuivasa performing his signature celebration of drinking from a shoe.

It was argued the art work encouraged unsafe drinking and breached the advertising ethical codes regarding health and safety.

The owner of the bar, Sumit Prajapati, received mixed reviews on the piece, including a letter from the Geraldton Community Wellness Group, calling on the business to remove the mural as they said it encouraged harmful drinking.

Mr Prajapati took to Facebook last year using a poll to gauge how the community felt about the mural and received an overwhelming positive response, with 94 per cent of voters encouraging the business owner to keep the unique artwork.

The ongoing saga made its way to the ASCP amid claims it perpetuated a bad reputation of Geraldton’s drinking culture, and was in breach of section 2.6 of advertising ethical codes regarding health and safety.

The panel released its findings on May 24, concluding “the advertisement did not contain material contrary to prevailing community standards on health and safety and determined that it did not breach Section 2.6 of the code”.

One of the notable points raised by the panel in their assessment was “given the size of the shoe and its position against his mouth, it is unlikely that the man is able to reach a high level of alcohol consumption, and noted that as the advertisement is a still image there is no suggestion that he is drinking to excess”.

City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn has openly supported the mural as a boxer himself, doing a shoey with Mr Prajapati when the mural was completed last year.

Mr Van Styn previously said it would have been a great shame to see the mural removed due to a “small group” of critics.

Mr Prajapati declined to comment on the ASCP’s findings.