Ad description
A poster for i heart Wines, seen on the London Underground network in April and May 2018, showed images of three bottles of wine. Text stated "i heart WINES [image of a red heart] - NOT every DAY, YOU UNDERSTAND. Not all the time. Just sometimes. YOU KNOW, in moderation. As a treat. With food, ideally. OR A FILM. MAYBE OVER A CHINWAG WITH FRIENDS. Or if it's sunny. THAT TENDS TO WORK QUITE WELL. ALSO ON HOLS. Sometimes at the weekend. But you know. NOT every DAY. OBVS".
Issue
Alcohol Concern and three members of the public challenged whether the ad encouraged excessive drinking.
Response
Copestick Murray Wine Solutions Ltd t/a i heart Wines believed the text struck a balance between the fun and light-hearted tone they sought to create and the awareness they wanted to reflect that drinking alcohol could be harmful. While it might be pleasurable, it should not be drunk every day. i heart Wines had taken advice from the CAP Copy Advice team, who believed the references to drinking alcohol were likely to be acceptable.
Exterion Media said the ad was reviewed against the advertising policies of their franchise partners by their own Copy Approval team, who considered it did not contravene their guidelines.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA acknowledged that consumers could interpret the statements made in the ad at face value as an encouragement to avoid excessive drinking. We acknowledged i heart Wines had consulted the Copy Advice team, whose view was that the references to drinking alcohol were likely to be acceptable. However, we considered the casual tone and playful wording, emphasised by the use of font styles, colours and italics, of the various statements (none of which were shown in the version of the ad seen by the Copy Advice team) – "NOT every DAY, YOU UNDERSTAND. Not all the time. Just sometimes. YOU KNOW, in moderation. As a treat. With food, ideally. OR A FILM. MAYBE OVER A CHINWAG WITH FRIENDS. Or if it's sunny. THAT TENDS TO WORK QUITE WELL. ALSO ON HOLS. Sometimes at the weekend. But you know. NOT every DAY. OBVS" – suggested some kind of collusion between the advertiser and reader and, rather than encouraging an avoidance of excessive drinking, trivialised the idea and were reminiscent of the justifications that could be given for it. Because we considered the ad would be interpreted by consumers as encouraging excessive drinking, we concluded that it breached the Code.
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).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told i heart Wines to ensure their ads did not encourage excessive drinking.
