{"id":552522,"date":"2026-04-27T01:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T01:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/552522\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T01:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T01:29:10","slug":"ricky-gervais-leaves-fans-divided-with-new-dutch-barn-vodka-billboard-poking-fun-at-london-marathon-runners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/552522\/","title":{"rendered":"Ricky Gervais leaves fans divided with new Dutch Barn vodka billboard poking fun at London Marathon runners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ricky Gervais has sparked fresh debate over the placement of one of his vodka brand billboards during the London Marathon.<\/p>\n

The comedian took to Instagram during Sunday\u2019s race to share an image of one of his Dutch Barn adverts displayed along the marathon route.<\/p>\n

A slogan read: \u201cRemember: Being healthy is basically dying as slowly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Captioning the post, Mr Gervais wrote: \u201cInspirational. Please subscribe to our mailing list at dutchbarn.com.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post quickly attracted a wave of reactions, with many followers praising the comic\u2019s signature dark humour.<\/p>\n

\u201cLove it and excellent work,\u201d one fan wrote, while another added: \u201cHaha brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n

“I have always said that\u2026 they just prolong the misery,” joked a third fan.<\/p>\n

Others, however, were less impressed, with one critic commenting: \u201cNot funny anymore honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ricky<\/p>\n

Ricky Gervais previously posted this advert to X<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

X\/RICKYGERVAIS<\/p>\n

Another user suggested: \u201cI believe it\u2019s about balance. Exercise moderately, but also eat and drink moderately. Overdoing either isn\u2019t good in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post comes as thousands of runners took to the streets of the capital for the 2026 London Marathon, with a host of celebrities also taking part.<\/p>\n

British stars including Cynthia Erivo, Ben Shephard, Joe Wicks and Sir Alastair Cook were among the high-profile names to complete the gruelling 26.2-mile course.<\/p>\n

Former Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel also impressed with a sub-three-hour finish, while ex-Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey completed his debut marathon in just over three hours.<\/p>\n

\"Ricky<\/p>\n

Mr Gervais has previously spoken out about his ‘banned’ adverts<\/p>\n

| GETTY<\/p>\n

Other well-known faces on the course included James Norton, Alexandra Burke, Jack O\u2019Connell and Spencer Matthews, all running for various charitable causes.<\/p>\n

Strictly Come Dancing professional Nikita Kuzmin also took part, crossing the finish line after more than four hours on the course.<\/p>\n

The event, now in its 46th year, saw around 60,000 participants run from Blackheath to The Mall, cheered on by huge crowds lining the streets.<\/p>\n

Temperatures climbed into the high teens as runners pushed through the final miles, with many raising money for charities across the UK.<\/p>\n

\"RickyRicky Gervais is no stranger to controversy with his humour | NETFLIX<\/p>\n

Mr Gervais\u2019 Dutch Barn vodka brand has become known for its provocative and often controversial slogans.<\/p>\n

The comedian has previously claimed a number of his billboard ideas were rejected by advertising bodies – as well as Transport for London – prompting him to share them directly with fans online instead.<\/p>\n

Reacting in 2024 to a complaint on social media by Mr Gervais about one of the bans, a TfL spokesman said: \u201cWe did not reject this advert. <\/p>\n

“This creative was declined by our advertising partner based on feedback from the Committees of Advertising Practice.<\/p>\n

“The client has resubmitted a new creative, which was approved by our advertising partner and is now running across our network.”<\/p>\n

But after the latest rejection, Mr Gervais wrote on X: “I am f***ing sick and tired of the powers that be banning my f***ing billboards and adverts for Dutch Barn.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ricky Gervais has sparked fresh debate over the placement of one of his vodka brand billboards during the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":552523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,830,96,78115,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-552522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity","tag-entertainment","tag-ricky-gervais","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}