Wine Law

Safety and health is also a generic topic which must be observed by all kind of marketing communication, but with more emphasis for wine promotions. The Code recommends that the content of the communication “should not, without justification on educational or social grounds, contain any visual portrayal or any description of potentially dangerous practices, or situations which show a disregard for safety or health, as defined by local national standards”. Last but not least, the ICC Code recommends attention to the receivers of the marketing communication, especially minors. Products which are illegal for children or teens to purchase or are unsuitable for them should not be advertised in media targeted to them. Marketing communications directed to children should be clearly distinguishable to them as such. Although it is not a common general practice in communications marketing strategies, the comparative advertisements constitutes an important and old practice in wine sector. Perhaps, shoulder to shoulder with the automotive sector, the wine industries adopted the comparative advertisement many times. Several marketing communications adopted by the wine sector deal with tasting one and another wine and give them notes. Wine testing, competitions, influencers, all those practices are, at the end, a comparison between wines. As we may understand, those advertisements must following strict rules in order to secure the loyalty of the communication. Countries have in force different rules to allow comparisons advertisements 29 . The ICC Code suggests that “marketing communications containing comparisons should be so designed that the comparison is not likely to mislead, and should comply with the principles of fair competition. Points of comparison should be based on facts which can be substantiated and should not be unfairly selected” 30 . Indeed, the purposed or implemented comparison shall be capable of being supported by evidence, and the products must be interchangeable in the way that must be compared like-for-like products. Additionally, a European directive 31 imposed that any comparison aimed at promoting goods bearing a protected designation of origin must refer exclusively to other goods bearing the same designation. 29 Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advertising, accessed on 30 April 2020. 30 Article 11 of the ICC Advertising And Marketing Communications Code. 31 Directive 2006/114/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 concerning misleading and comparative advertising, article 4(e).