Ad description
A marketing email and website ad for Bill’s Soho:
a. The marketing email, received on 13 July 2022, featured the subject heading “Bottomless Prosecco to beat the heat! [two flutes of champagne emoji]”. The body of the email featured the heading “ENJOY BOTTOMLESS PROSECCO THIS HEATWAVE WEEKEND”. Smaller text underneath stated, “Select any item […] and enjoy 90 minutes of unlimited prosecco for just £16.50 per person. What else could you wish for? Our all day brunch menu features naughty favourites […] all washed down with a lovely glass (or several) of prosecco”.
b. A page on the website of Bill’s Soho, www.bills-website.co.uk, seen 15 July 2022, featured the heading “Bottomless prosecco to beat the heat!” with the sub-heading “Enjoy bottomless prosecco this heatwave weekend for just £16.50!”, and further text that stated “Just select any item […] and enjoy 90 minutes of unlimited prosecco for just £16.50 per person. What else could you wish for? Our all day brunch menu features naughty favourites […] all washed down with a lovely glass (or several) of prosecco”.
Issue
Two complainants challenged whether the ads were socially irresponsible because they implied, condoned, or encouraged excessive consumption of alcohol.
Response
Bill's Restaurants Ltd t/a Bill’s Soho (Bill’s) said that they were a restaurant chain which was generally not perceived by the public as being associated with the excessive consumption of alcohol or as a purely "drink based" establishment. They believed the ads made it clear that the Bottomless Prosecco promotion was exclusively available with the purchase of a meal, with the majority of the wording being used to describe and promote the food element of the promotion. The promotion was subject to further terms and conditions published on the Bill’s website expressly aimed at encouraging responsible drinking, including: being available on weekends only; being available during the daytime only (11:30am to 5pm); a non-alcoholic option being available; and the customer being expressly encouraged to drink responsibly.
They said the ads were relatively neutral and factual in tone, and whilst "two flutes of champagne" emoji was used in one of the ads they believed the use of this emoji was genial in nature, rather than glamourising or placing any undue or irresponsible emphasis on the bottomless element of the Promotion.
They said the phrase "a lovely glass (or several) of prosecco" implied that some consumers would have only one glass with their meal. There was no emphasis on the word 'several' (e.g. through the use of an exclamation mark) and so they did not believe that it necessarily implied that a consumer was being encouraged to drink at least three glasses or that they might lose track of the number of glasses that had been consumed. They said that this simply reflected that a consumer who took part in the promotion was likely to have more than one glass of prosecco, albeit when accompanied with a meal and over a limited period of 90 minutes. They did not feel that the whole phrase, in context, encouraged excessive drinking.
However, they did accept that the ads’ use of the phrase "beat the heat" or to enjoy bottomless prosecco “this heatwave weekend” could be interpreted as encouraging consumers to drink prosecco in the hot weather. They said they did not intend to encourage or promote excessive drinking or irresponsible behaviour by using those phrases and would not use them in future. They also said that future ads for the promotion would prominently advertise a “non-alcoholic option”, include a statement that drinking to excess will not be permitted, and that participants are required to drink responsibly at all times along with a link to their T&Cs and the Drink Aware website.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketing communications must be socially responsible and must contain nothing that was likely to lead people to adopt styles of drinking that were unwise. It also stated that marketing communications which included a promotion must not imply, condone or encourage excessive consumption of alcohol.
We acknowledged that, in principle, ads that took a factual and neutral tone when presenting promotions that included unlimited alcohol with a meal would not necessarily go so far as to encourage excessive drinking. We considered that both ads did make clear that the unlimited offer was exclusively available with a meal. However, they also included text that stated “a lovely glass (or several) of prosecco”. Within the context of the offer’s 90-minute duration, which was stated in the ads, we considered that the reference to “or several” condoned and encouraged excessive drinking. We considered that “several” would be understood to mean drinking at least three glasses in that short period, and that the term’s vagueness risked implying that consumers might lose track of the number of glasses they had consumed. We therefore considered that the ads encouraged people to drink excessively during the offer’s 90-minute duration.
In addition, the ads were seen during the July 2022 heatwave for which health warnings had been issued. Those warnings indicated that the heatwave was likely to have an extreme impact on health in the regions affected and government health advice included “Drink plenty of fluids and avoid excess alcohol”. However, ads (a) & (b) each prominently featured text that stated, “Bottomless prosecco to beat the heat!”, and the further text, “Enjoy bottomless prosecco this heatwave weekend”. We considered those claims positioned the unlimited alcohol offer as a way of coping with the July heatwave and that they further implied that prosecco, because it was refreshing, was well suited to consumption in heatwave weather, whereas that was at odds with government advice. The ads therefore irresponsibly encouraged excessive drinking in circumstances where the excessive consumption of alcohol was especially dangerous, and we therefore welcomed Bill’s intention not to use similar phrases in future.
We concluded that the ads condoned and encouraged the excessive consumption of alcohol and unwise drinking and were socially irresponsible.
The ads breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.3 1.3 Marketing communications must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society. (Social responsibility), 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. and 18.10 18.10 Marketing communications that include a promotion must not imply, condone or encourage excessive consumption of alcohol. (Alcohol).
Action
The ads must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Bill’s Restaurants Ltd t/a Bill’s Soho to ensure that their future ads were socially responsible and did not condone or encourage excessive drinking generally. We also told them to ensure their ads contained nothing likely to lead people to adopt unwise styles of drinking, including excessive drinking during a heatwave.
