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Heineken has been instructed by the UK advertising regulator not to use an alcohol-free beer ad unless it is prominently stated the beverage is zero abv.
A complaint had been lodged with respect to an online advert that appeared in July, featuring Formula One racing driver Max Verstappen holding a bottle of the Heineken 0.0 alcohol-free beer.
While the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld one aspect of the complaint claiming the zero-alcohol content was not clearly displayed, and therefore breached the regulator’s so-called CAP code, it rebutted the second that suggested the ad “irresponsibly encouraged drink driving”.
“The best driver is the one who is not drinking,” the text of the Heineken 0.0 ad red, with an added reference to the Drink Aware website.
On the one hand, the ASA ruled the ad did breach the code because it “did not include a prominent abv statement” beyond just the Heineken 0.0 label, with the Heineken corporate logo taking more prominence.
The regulator explained: “The ASA understood that some consumers did not wish to consume drinks with even trace amounts of alcohol because there was a risk of physical or emotional harm.
“As descriptors such as ‘alcohol free’ were used for alcohol alternatives up to and including 0.5% abv, the abv of all alcohol-alternative products should therefore be stated with reasonable prominence in the ad.”
A UK spokesperson for the drinks manufacturer said: “Heineken UK prides itself on being a responsible advertiser, and although we are disappointed with the outcome of the ASA ruling, we respect the decision.”
Other aspects of the ad, the ASA did not find any breach of the code.
The phrase “Enjoy Heineken responsibly” also formed part of the ad’s text, along with a logo, “When you Drive, Never Drink”, displayed around a steering wheel with a bottle of 5% abv Heineken.
However, as part of its defence, Heineken pointed out the ad featured a red warning line through the bottle.
According to the ASA, the CAP code states “that marketing communications for alcohol alternatives may depict the product in circumstances where consumption of alcoholic drinks would be inappropriate or unsafe”.
The regulator ruled: “We considered the message of the ad, which also showed a product with blue labelling, distinct from Heineken’s usual green labelling, was likely to be understood as promoting a product that, as opposed to an alcoholic beer, could be drunk before driving, a situation where the consumption of alcohol would be unsafe.
“While the statement of the product’s abv was not sufficiently prominent, we concluded that it was clear from the ad’s overall context that the product was an alcohol alternative and, as such, its depiction in circumstances where consuming alcohol would be unsafe did not breach the Code.”