ASA rules to ban Gordon Ramsay gin ad due to nutritional content claims

22 Sep 2022 --- A recent advertisement posted on the celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s Instagram page made assertions about the micronutrient content of the Eden Mills produced gin that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) found to be misleading. Ramsay and Eden Mills announced a partnership to create Gordon Ramsay’s Gin in July of last year.

The advertisement, posted on March 20, was reported to the ASA for stating that the honeyberries used in the distilling process retained their micronutrients. The association then challenged the advertisement’s veracity, noting that these types of nutrition assertions “were not permitted for alcoholic drinks.”

NutritionInsight has reached out to the Scotland-based distillery, Eden Mills, but the company did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.

Protecting the consumer
The association investigates potential CAP violations, such as with a 2021 Tesco plant-based burger ad and a BrewDog ad posted that same year, and makes rulings on the advertisement’s adherence to the code. Like the Eden Mills post, these were both also found to be in violation of the CAP.

The CAP code maintains that only nutritional statements authorized by the Great Britain Nutrition and Health Claims Register (GB NHC Register) are allowed to be used in advertising and in marketing communications. 

The ASA utilizes the CAP to determine whether advertisements are giving consumers misleading information. Accordingly, the only statements allowed to be made regarding alcoholic beverages are “reduced energy,” “reduced alcohol” or “low alcohol.” This is the principle the ASA holds the Instagram marketing communication violated.

Violating the code
The advertisement not only stated that the honeyberries maintained their micronutrients but also stated that they contained “more antioxidants than blueberries, more potassium than bananas, more vitamin C than oranges.” 

Since the ad states that the honeyberries retain the micronutrients, the ASA says that this “would be understood by consumers as meaning that due to the honeyberries in it, the product had the particular beneficial nutritional property of containing a range of micronutrients.” 

This led the organization to see the advertisement as making a statement on nutritional value, which led them to reach out to the company.

Due diligence?
According to the ASA ruling, Eden Mills stated that they had not used honeyberries in the distilling process before. The company also stated that in its excitement to work with Ramsay, the due diligence of investigating the statement had not been performed.

The company further explained it is the process of “undergoing significant change,” which also led to the advertisement’s violating statement slipping through the cracks. 

Furthermore, the ASA ruling states the owners of Eden Mills reported that “the marketing team and head distiller had all been briefed on the complaint, and they provided an assurance that it would not happen again.”

Eden Mills and Ramsay withdrew the ad. The ASA’s ruling states the advertisement must not appear in the same form again.

Edited by William Bradford Nichols