The trade association for the distilled spirits industry found that the marketing and packaging for a vodka company violated multiple provisions of the group’s marketing code.
Members of the public complained to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) about Emodka vodka’s packaging and marketing materials, arguing that the French vodka product imported by Stoller Imports violated the group’s Code of Responsible Practices for Beverage Alcohol Advertising and Marketing.
Pursuant to the code’s Responsible Content Provision No. 3, “[b]everage alcohol advertising and marketing materials should not depict a child or portray objects, images or cartoon figures that primarily appeal to persons below the legal purchase age. Advertising or marketing material is considered to ‘primarily appeal’ to persons below the legal purchase age if it has special attractiveness to such persons beyond the general attractiveness it has for persons of legal purchase age.”
The complainants argued that the Emodka product packaging emulates a yellow toy emoji ball, with cartoonlike images that appeal to children far under the purchase age. The small size of the packaging (under three inches) increases the likelihood that Emodka vodka will be confused with a toy, the complainants added, with one noting that “[t]he clerk … told me that children were frequently interested in purchasing this product.”
Another complainant cited Responsible Content Provision No. 15, which provides that “[b]everage alcohol advertising and marketing materials should not … portray persons in a state of intoxication or in any way suggest that intoxication is socially acceptable conduct, and they should not promote the intoxicating effects of beverage alcohol consumption.”
One of the Emodka faces bore a striking resemblance to a “drunk emoji” (an open mouth with two X’s for eyes), the complainant told DISCUS, adding that the image “surely” promotes the intoxicating effects of the vodka.
The Code Review Board agreed that the vodka’s packaging and marketing materials violated both provisions of the code. “[T]he Board concluded that these materials primarily appeal to those below the legal purchase age insofar as they resemble a similar toy ball referenced by the complainants,” according to the DISCUS decision. In addition, given the similarities between the drunk emoji and the Emodka packaging, the “Board also found a violation of Responsible Content Provision No. 15.”
“In light of the decision, the Code Review Board urged the removal of the Emodka vodka packaging and marketing materials that were found in violation of the Council’s Code from the marketplace,” DISCUS concluded.
To read the decision, click here.
Why it matters: In response to the decision of the Code Review Board, Stoller agreed to no longer import Emodka vodka and therefore will no longer carry the product after existing inventory is depleted, DISCUS said.