a ban on wine advertisment ?
In 2012, french wine industry was put at dock twice! In February, the court of appeal agreed with a temperance movement who was offended by an ad showing a couple with a glass of wine in hand.
As for the headline, it only said : « Bordeaux, great characters to meet » with the sentence « Drink less, drink better » to meet full regulatory compliance. It was judged the ads « aimed at promoting a friendly and positive image of Bordeaux wines encouraging the consumption of those beverages ».
We can therefor ask ourselves if advertisement in the wine sector has any future, as its definition is to promote the consumption of a product. The reproach was that the ad encouraged friendliness by showing two happy young, beautiful and smiling people. If instead, two depressive and unappealing people had been shown, the charges might have been different… Self-derision could be the answer !
A few months later, it’s the council of state’s turn to rule against a TV Channel dedicated to wine judging it to be illegal as it was promoting wine consumption. This same channel being on pay-TV meaning non-intrusive, intended for an informed audience, and maybe prohibited to minors.
Allow me to say that The Wise fell head down the vat !
We are at a time where channels and ads on sex are everywhere. Meanwhile, accusations are made to any media advertising the virtue of our terroir.
Is drinking wine so reprehensible that everything linked to it should be forbidden? Will wine tourism be affected by this legislative constraint ? Finally, what will happen to websites with free access promoting wine ?
