Alcohol

The advertising on the advertisers’ social media platform featured an image of a bottle of Casillero del Diablo wine and referred to the following:

“FACT: DEHYDRATION IS THE MAIN CULPRIT

Casillerodeldiablo_ire Many people believe they feel worse the next morning if they’ve been drinking wine containing sulphites. However, sulphites naturally occur in wine, and wine makers will even add extra to prevent spoilage. If you find you can’t drink red without getting a headache, it’s potentially an allergic reaction to histamines from the fermentation process, so try taking an antihistamine to help cure it. However, the main culprit for not feeling your best the next day? It’s dehydration, not the sulphites.

Drinkaware.ie”.

The complainant considered that the advertisement encouraged people to ignore an allergic reaction to substances in wine and take an antihistamine to continue drinking. They said that Sulphites were one of the 14 common allergens listed for Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point1 (HACCP) purposes and this advertisement indicated that they were not to be taken seriously and as sulphites occur naturally in wine, a consumer should just take medicine to drink red wine.

(1) The word HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point) refers to procedures you must put in place to ensure the food you produce is safe. Source: https://fsai.ie

The advertisers said that the advertising had been removed and would not be used again.

In relation to the first statement made in the complaint that they were encouraging people to ignore an allergic reaction, they said this was not the case, their aim had been to educate people on a common misconception about the potential reason for headaches from red wine as documented in many articles online. They provided the following links on the topic.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/ask-the-doctor-what-causes-red-wine- headaches
https://drinkwelluk.com/blogs/news/histamines-in-wine-and-alcohol https://drinkpurewine.com/blogs/histamine-intolerance-side-effects/complete-guide-to- managing-your-histamines

The advertisers said they accepted that anti-histamines should not have been mentioned and had been an error on their part, they apologised for this oversight, although they said it is widely acknowledged as treatment for such a reaction. They apologised for this oversight.


1 The word HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point) refers to procedures you must put in place to ensure the food you produce is safe. Source: https://fsai.ie

2 39942


They said, however, that their advertising had in no way purported this as a solution to continue drinking. They said they had rigorous processes in place to ensure all their advertising communications went through CopyClear (2). In this instance, however, the post was rescheduled earlier than originally planned and therefore an isolated incident occurred whereby the copy had not been sent through the usual clearance process. They said this would not happen again.

(2) An independent pre-vetting service to help ensure the advertising of alcoholic brands in Ireland complies with all relevant Codes of Practice. https://copyclear.ie/

Complaint Upheld

The Complaints Committee considered the detail of the complaint and the advertisers’ response.

The Committee acknowledged the error which had occurred that led to the advertising being published and noted the stringent clearance process that is otherwise followed. While noting the information provided in the external links, taking account of the nature of the product category and the advertised content, the Committee concluded that the advertising was in breach of Sections 3.3, and 9.8(f).


Action Required: As the advertisement had been removed no further action was required in this case.