Background
Update to Advertising Codes (7 April 2025):
On 7 April 2025, the Advertising Codes were updated to reflect the revocation and restatement of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (“CPRs” – the legislation from which the majority of the CAP and BCAP rules on misleading advertising derived) by the Unfair Commercial Practices provisions in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (“DMCCA”). On that date, the wording of a number of the rules in the Advertising Codes was changed to reflect relevant changes introduced by the DMCCA on 6 April 2025.
Given that the complaint that formed the subject of this ruling were received before 7 April 2025, the ASA considered the ad and complaint under the wording of the rules that existed prior to 7 April 2025, and the Ruling (and references to rules within it) should therefore be read in line with this wording, available here – CAP Code and BCAP Code.
Ad description
A paid-for Instagram story posted by @vkdrink, seen on 24 January 2025, featured an image of a 70 cl bottle of VK Blue held in front of a supermarket shelf alongside the text “Doing Dry January?... more”. The caption stated “Doing Dry January? One won’t hurt, right? [winking face emoji] And yes, the 70cl bottles totally count! [face with hand over mouth emoji] Pick up a 70cl bottle of VK Blue at B&M for just £1.99 and keep the party going into January! [OK hand emoji]”.
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad irresponsibly implied that drinking alcohol could overcome boredom during “Dry January”.
Response
Global Brands Ltd t/a VK said the purpose of the ad was to promote their product throughout January to consumers who chose to drink in moderation. They said the reference to “Dry January” was intended to tie the promotion to a well-known trend in a humorous way and was aimed at people who were not fully taking part in the challenge.
They did not believe that the ad suggested alcohol was essential or a solution for issues including boredom or loneliness. They said the claim “One won’t hurt, right?” was a question left open for people to decide for themselves, and “keep the party going into January!” was a reference to social gatherings that often took place throughout December.
VK said that the ad was not targeted at consumers who might have been vulnerable. They had removed the ad from their Instagram page.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code stated that marketing communications must be socially responsible and must not imply that drinking alcohol could overcome boredom, loneliness or other problems.
The ASA understood that Dry January was a national campaign to challenge people to abstain from alcohol for the month of January. The stated purpose of the challenge was to help people take control of their drinking and to encourage healthy drinking habits. We considered that the purpose of the question in the ad “Doing Dry January?” was to target and engage consumers who had taken part in the campaign.
We further considered that the text “Doing Dry January?” alongside the claim “One won’t hurt, right?” would have been understood by those consumers as encouraging them to drink alcohol, even though they were taking a break from drinking, likely for health-related reasons. Although we acknowledged that the tone of the ad was light-hearted, we considered the phrase “one won’t hurt” was closely associated with peer pressure and relapse during abstinence and was often used to persuade someone to drink alcohol against their better judgement. We also considered the claim “keep the party going into January” suggested that without alcohol the festivity of parties typically associated with December, such as Christmas events and New Year’s Eve, would not carry on into January, whereas by purchasing a 70 cl bottle of VK, the “partying” could continue. We considered the ad implied that, without alcohol, January was boring in contrast to the parties and social occasions which often involved alcohol in December, and that continuing to drink alcohol could overcome such boredom.
We considered that the fundamental purpose of the ad was to tempt consumers taking part in Dry January to drink alcohol in order to “keep the party going” and avoid the boredom they would otherwise experience due to abstinence. We therefore concluded that the ad implied that drinking alcohol could overcome boredom, particularly for those who were taking part in Dry January, and it was socially irresponsible.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 18.1 and 18.6 (Alcohol).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Global Brands Ltd t/a VK to ensure that their ads were socially responsible and did not imply that drinking alcohol could overcome boredom, particularly when referencing Dry January.
