A major liquor firm on the Island has admitted that its new advertising campaign for black vodka was deliberately designed to be controversial following complaints from some members of the public.

The ad, which was carried in full for the first time in the Friday edition of The Royal Gazette by Gosling's, is for Blavod vodka, but raised some concerned eyebrows when a teaser ad said nothing other than "It's Black, Not White".

The teaser has been running for the past few days in preparation of the full ad.

The teaser was a large black square, with what looked like a large white circle of light in the middle and in the centre it read: "It's Black Not White."

But with no clue as to what it was promoting, and no explanation, it led to complaints from some members of the public who believed the advert could be perceived as racist.

One woman, who did not wish to be named, told The Royal Gazette: "I find it offensive and unnecessary.

"I have no idea what it is. I don't even know if it's an advert, but I think if it is, they could have done something different. Why has The Royal Gazette allowed this.? A lot of people are talking about it."

Another woman said: "It may not have anything to do with race, but it leaves you wondering."

Charles Gosling, vice president of marketing for the company, said the ad was deliberately designed to make people think.

He said: "We have a product, which we think is a particularly fine product, and one of the interesting things about it is its colour - it's black vodka.

"If you ask anyone in the street what colour vodka is, they will say white or clear.

"In a way, it's breaking stereotypes and in a way we wanted to be a little bit controversial.

"One of the things about it is that you look behind the surface, whether it is the colour of the drink, or the colour of the skin of people."

He said it was designed as a teaser ad first, to get people's interest, with the full advert appearing later. Then, he said, everyone would realise what the ad was for and what was meant.

The Human Rights Commission (HRC) said although Gosling's may have set out to be a bit controversial, in itself, the advertisement did not overstep the mark.

Joanne Wohlmuth, a consultant for the HRC, said: "The ad, in itself, is very subliminal in terms of its message, and how people take it depends on what perception they have going on in their head.

"The ad does not say anything - it does not attach itself to race or anything else, such as gender or sex, so we don't see anything offensive in it. People have to wait and see what they mean when the rest of the ad comes out."

And she said the company may have deliberately tried to be controversial, but in black and white, they had done nothing wrong.

She added: "They (Gosling's) are being very clever about the ad, but one has the right to be creative."