Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
A tweet from the Twitter account of Brew York, a craft brewery, seen on 13 April 2022, promoted a beer made in collaboration with Vault City Brewery. The ad featured text that stated “[mango emoji] JUICE [mango emoji] The 2nd beer in The Breakfast Club Pack: JUICE 8% Guava, Papaya and Mango Smoothie Sour. For JUICE we’ve collaborated with Scottish Kings of Sours, @vaultcitybrewing, for a tropical fruit smoothie explosion to get those 5-a-day in and start your day off right! [peach emoji][mango emoji][clock emoji]”, accompanied by a shot of a table arrangement with mango, a can of the beer, and smoothie poured from a blender into a Brew York branded glass.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether:
1. the ad encouraged drinking at breakfast, and it irresponsibly condoned and encouraged unwise styles of drinking or excessive drinking;
2. the ad’s claim “get those five-a-day in and start your day off right” was a health claim that was not permitted for alcoholic drinks.
Response
1. Brew York Ltd said that the advertised beer’s ‘smoothie sour’ style was common in the craft beer industry, and that the beer was part of their “Breakfast Club” range that included several others inspired by flavours commonly associated with breakfast. They said that taking flavour inspiration from breakfast items did not go so far as to encourage drinking at breakfast.
They emphasised that the alarm clock emoji had been included for the sole purpose of foregrounding the breakfast theme and was not intended to signal that the product should be consumed early in the day. Similarly, the phrase “tropical fruit smoothie explosion”, as well as the image of the product with sliced mango and a blender were meant to highlight the beer’s unusually high fruit content, and convey that the beer’s ingredients, flavour, and consistency, meant that it resembled a fruit smoothie. However, they said they would take steps not to use similar ads in future and emphasised their willingness to delete the tweet if necessary.
2. Brew York stated that “Get those five-a-day in” had been intended as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the advertised beer’s fruity flavour and high fruit content. Because they thought it would be recognised as a cliché of breakfast-related ad copy, they believed consumers would interpret the phrase “start your day off right” as a playful nod to the beer’s inspiration. Because of their humorous intentions, they did not think the claim would be interpreted literally or viewed as a serious health claim. However, they added that, on reflection, they felt the claim should not have appeared in their advertising.
1. & 2. Vault City Brewing Ltd confirmed they had collaborated on the advertised beer, but said it was a Brew York product and the ad had been produced by Brew York. They had retweeted the ad, but had since deleted it.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The CAP Code required marketing communications to contain nothing that was likely to lead people to adopt styles of drinking that were unwise.
The advertised beer had a flavour inspired by fruity breakfast smoothies. The ASA considered that, in principle, factually describing that aspect of the product in ads would not in itself be a breach of the Code, provided the ad did not go so far as to encourage drinking at breakfast, or early in the day. However, the ad included the text “Start your day off right!”, an alarm clock emoji, and referred to the beer being part of the “Breakfast Club Pack”. We considered those elements gave the impression that the beer was intended for drinking at breakfast time, rather than being related to the breakfast-inspired flavours of the product and product range. We further considered that other elements of the ad which strongly linked the product to non-alcoholic fruit smoothies, including the text “tropical fruit smoothie explosion”, and the image of a blender pouring smoothie into a Brew York branded glass on a table arrangement of mango, implied that the advertised beer was a palatable option for early morning drinking.
For those reasons, we considered that the ad encouraged and condoned drinking at breakfast, which we regarded as an unwise style of drinking. Because of that, we concluded the ad was socially irresponsible.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 18.1 18.1 Marketing communications must be socially responsible and must contain nothing that is likely to lead people to adopt styles of drinking that are unwise. For example, they should not encourage excessive drinking. Care should be taken not to exploit the young, the immature or those who are mentally or socially vulnerable. (Alcohol).
2. Upheld
The CAP Code allowed ads for alcoholic drinks to give factual information about product contents, including comparisons, but required that they did not make any health, fitness or weight-control claims. Health claims were defined as those that stated, suggested, or implied that a relationship existed between a food or drink or one of its constituents and health. That included references to general benefits of a food or drink for overall good health or health-related well-being.
We acknowledged that “get those 5-a-day in and start your day off right” might be interpreted by some consumers as a humorous nod to the beer’s breakfast theme and “smoothie sour” style. However, because we considered that the ad implied that the beer’s ingredients and recipe resembled that of a typical non-alcoholic fruit smoothie, we further considered that consumers would interpret the claim “Get those 5-a-day in” as suggesting that, like a typical fruit smoothie, the advertised beer would count towards the five daily portions of fruit and vegetables recommended by government guidelines.
Alcoholic drinks did not count towards a person's ‘5 a day’, and the claim “get those 5-a-day in” on its own would therefore be misleading. Notwithstanding that, we considered that because the claim continued with “and start your day off right”, it strongly linked the beer’s consumption to the health benefits of consuming fruit for breakfast. We therefore considered that “get those five-a-day in and start your day off right” was a claim that the advertised beer had benefits for overall health-related well-being. Because such health claims were not permitted for alcoholic drinks, we concluded that the ad breached the Code.
On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules
15.2
15.2
References to general benefits of a nutrient or food for overall good health or health-related well-being are acceptable only if accompanied by a specific authorised health claim.
(Food, food supplements and associated health or nutrition claims) and
18.17
18.17
Marketing communications may give factual information about product contents, including comparisons, but must not make any health, fitness or weight-control claims.
The only permitted nutrition claims are "low-alcohol", "reduced alcohol" and "reduced energy" and any claim likely to have the same meaning for the consumer.
(Alcohol).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Brew York Ltd and Vault City Brewing Ltd to ensure that their future ads were socially responsible and did not condone or encourage unwise styles of drinking, such as drinking at breakfast. We also told them not to make health claims about alcoholic drinks.
