Background
Summary of Council decision:
Two issues were investigated, both of which were Upheld.
Ad description
Two ads for Novielo London, a retailer of home items, on Instagram and a website, seen on 14 March 2023:
a. A post on Novielo London’s Instagram page published 14 March 2023, stated “A bottle a day, keeps the doctor a way [sic] (that’s the saying, right?!). The perfect mothers day [sic] idea, just stick it over the label of her favourite bottle of wine and you have a hilarious personalised gift [champagne bottle emoji]”.
The ad contained an image that showed a green prescription label on a bottle of wine. The image also showed a close up of the label which stated “PRESCRIPTION ALCOHOL” next to the green pharmacy cross. Text underneath stated “PATIENT NAME: Laura Smith”. Underneath it stated “DOSE: Drink one 175ml dose twice daily. If symptoms persist, take double the dose stated. In extreme cases consume entire bottle in one sitting”.
Text underneath stated “SIDE EFFECTS: May include Silliness, Vomiting, Loss of Memory, Lots of Laughter & Extreme Sleepiness”. At the bottom of the label it stated “Authorised Signatory of Dr. P Potts”.
b. A page on Novielo London’s website, www.novielolondon.co.uk, stated “Wine Bottle Prescription Label”. Text underneath stated “Just peel this prescription and add the label to a bottle of wine. Perfect for a gift or to have some fun at Christmas! Sadly the wine is not included in the price of this.”
The ad contained the same image as ad (a).
Issue
1. The complainant, who believed that ads (a) and (b) condoned and encouraged excessive drinking, challenged whether they were irresponsible.
2. The ASA challenged whether ads (a) and (b) implied that alcohol had therapeutic qualities and therefore breached the Code.
Response
1. & 2. Novielo London did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.Instagram said that upon being notified of ad (a), they removed it from their platform in the UK.
Assessment
1. Upheld
The ASA was concerned by Novielo London’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquires and told them to do so in future.
The CAP Code stated that marketing communications that referred to alcoholic drinks must be socially responsible and should not encourage excessive drinking.
The ads contained an image of a product that resembled a prescription label and which contained a section for “dose” and “side effects”. We noted that the “dosage” stated “Drink one 175ml dose twice daily. If symptoms persist, take double the dose stated. In extreme cases consume entire bottle in one sitting” and that the ads also showed the product attached to a bottle of wine. We therefore considered that the ads encouraged excessive consumption of alcohol.
We also noted the side effects listed in the ads included “vomiting”, “loss of memory” and “extreme sleepiness”, alongside others such as “silliness” and “lots of laughter”. We considered that the ads made light of the effects of consuming an excessive amount of alcohol, which we considered was irresponsible.
Given the above, we concluded that the ads were irresponsible.
On that point, the ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 18.1 (Alcohol).
2. Upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketing communications that referred to alcoholic drinks must not imply that alcohol had therapeutic qualities.
The ads contained an image of a product that resembled a prescription label, featuring a green pharmacy cross, the “patient name”, as well as sections for “dose” and “side effects”. It also stated “Authorised Signatory of Dr P. Potts”. We considered that whilst consumers would understand that it was not a genuine prescription, the ads nevertheless made a link between alcohol and medicine. We also noted ad (a) stated “A bottle a day, keeps the doctor a way [sic]”, which we considered implied that drinking alcohol was something that could help people maintain good health. We therefore considered that the ads implied that drinking alcohol could have a similar therapeutic effect to medicine.
We therefore concluded that the ads implied that alcohol had therapeutic qualities.
On that point, the ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 18.7 (Alcohol).
Action
The ads must not appear again in the form complained about. We told Novielo London to ensure future marketing communications relating to alcohol were socially responsible and did not imply, condone or encourage excessive consumption of alcohol. We also told Novielo London to not imply that alcohol had therapeutic qualities. We referred the matter to CAP's Compliance team.
