Regulator finds wine investment ads were ‘misleading’

In a series of rulings published on 13 November, the ASA judged that the adverts for firms including Cult & Boutique, Vintage Associates, Vinverum and Cult Wines were misleading.

The paid-for adverts for Cult & Boutique, Vintage Associates and Vinverum all appeared on social media platforms, while two Cult Wines ads were circulated on Google.

The ASA is the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media and applies the Advertising Codes that are written by the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP).

Adverts breached code

After assessing the responses from each of the firms in question, the ASA concluded that they had all failed to make it clear to people viewing the adverts that wine investment is unregulated, and that the value of investments is variable and “could go down as well as up”. ​Meanwhile, some of the advertisers failed to substantiate certain claims made in their ads.

As the four firms were in breach of the CAP Code, they have been instructed to take down the adverts.

They have also been told to ensure that all of their future marketing material makes it clear that wine investment is unregulated and that investments can go both up and down in value.

This rulings formed part of a wider piece of work on unregulated investments, which was identified for investigation after intelligence was gathered by the ASA.

Claims must be representative and substantiated

"We'd advise companies operating in this space to remember that people are unlikely to have experience of understanding wine investments,"​ an ASA spokesperson told Food Manufacture.

"As a result, ads should state that wine investments are unregulated in the UK and that the value of investments can go down as well as up. This is material information which should be presented prominently and be sufficiently clear in an ad. Any claims about returns rates or past success need to be representative and must be able to be substantiated."​

The spokesperson added that anyone unsure about advertising standards in the UK should get in touch with the ASA.

In other news, representatives from Unite the Union have taken part in protests outside the offices of the biggest shareholders in Bakkavor​​​​​​ as strike action continues at one of its UK production plants.