The Love Me Like You Do singer, who is the founder and co-owner of Served Drinks, posted two ads for the alcoholic soda on her Facebook page in February. “If you’re like me, you love a drink but also enjoy an active lifestyle. My delicious alcoholic sparkling water is the best of both worlds,” said the former. The second read: “You know I love a drink, but I also care a lot about my well-being. Since launching my alcoholic sparkling water, there’s been no going back for me!” A video showed Goulding saying: “I love a drink, as I talk about it a lot on my social media, but I also care about my health… So I want to tell you about my new drink being served. Well, the my new The drink served is hard seltzer, it has 57 calories…” Further text on the posts stated: “57 calories … 4% vol.” A separate email from Served Drinks, which appeared on January 18, read: “Forget dry January … Is dry January getting a little dry? There’s no reason you can’t enjoy a drink without getting tired! At only 57 calories, 0 grams of sugar and 4% ABV, our drinks are the perfect choice for a twist without all the guilt.” The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 21 complaints about the brand’s ad, including that the calorie and sugar content claims were nutrient claims not allowed for alcoholic drinks and that Goulding’s statement that she liked the drink while enjoying also an active lifestyle and Caring for her well-being are general health claims that are also disallowed for alcoholic beverages. Some complained that the email ad suggested drinking alcohol might be necessary and could overcome boredom by encouraging people to break Dry January. Served Drinks said it understood that advertisers were allowed to provide factual information about the nutritional content of their products, including caloric content, provided there was no indication that the drink had the special benefit of being low in calories. They said the posts on Goulding’s Facebook page were intended to describe her lifestyle and what is important to her and could not reasonably be interpreted as being about the product itself and therefore were not general health claims. The ASA said: “Because the ads included nutrition claims that the product was low in calories and sugar-free, which was not allowed for nutrition claims on alcohol products, we concluded that they were in breach of the Code.” It ruled that the three adverts should not appear again in their current form, adding: “We told Served Drinks not to make health claims or unauthorized nutrition claims about alcoholic drinks or imply that alcohol could overcome boredom in their advertisements”. Served Drinks said: “We are committed to responsible advertising and work closely with organizations such as CAP (the Committee on Advertising Practice) to develop campaign materials. “While we are disappointed that the complaints were partially upheld, we respect the ASA’s decision. All ads have been removed immediately and will not appear again.”
