The Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) has ruled that South African Breweries (SAB) misled consumers with its use of the descriptor “demi-sec” in advertising its Brutal Fruit range. The ARB has ordered SAB to withdraw the term with immediate effect.
Misrepresentation
Heineken Beverages lodged a complaint against South African Breweries (SAB) over its online and social media campaign for Brutal Fruit. The campaign described the drinks as “spritzers” and referred to one variant as a “demi-sec demigoddess.”
Heineken argued that the use of “demi-sec,” a term recognized in South African liquor regulations as denoting a semi-sweet sparkling wine, misrepresented Brutal Fruit as a wine-based product. In reality, Brutal Fruit is a flavoured ale brewed from fermented grain.
According to Heineken’s complaint, the other hand, the term “demi-sec” is commonly known to refer to a semi-sweet wine, and its use in the advertisement is “particularly disingenuous” and “constitutes an exploitation of consumers’ credulity.” Heineken claimed that this could mislead consumers about the nature of the product, as they would likely associate the term with wine.
Metaphorical
South African Breweries (SAB) defended its Brutal Fruit advertisement, arguing that it was metaphorical and hyperbolic in nature. According to support the company’s claim that the advertisement was not misleading.
The company claimed that the language used in the advertisement, including terms like “bubbly” and “spritzer,” was colloquial and not necessarily understood to mean wine-based products. SAB stated that the commercial was intended to highlight the multi-faceted nature of women and the Brutal Fruit brand, and that consumers were not expected to interpret the terminology literally.
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SAB explained that the description of the protagonist as a “demi-sec demigoddess” was a metaphor, not meant to be taken literally, but rather to illustrate how the protagonist’s personality and characteristics align with those of the product. The company maintained that the advertisement’s intention was not to deceive consumers about the product’s composition.
“Spritzer” and “bubbly” deemed acceptable
The Board distinguished between various contested terms. The ARB found that the terms “bubbly” and “spritzer” in the Brutal Fruit adverts were not problematic. The term “bubbly” was used descriptively to refer to a personality or product style, rather than as a direct claim of being champagne or sparkling wine.
Regarding “spritzer”, the Directorate noted that while it is commonly associated with wine mixed with soda, it is not legally defined and has been used more broadly in the drinks market. Given its previous consideration in earlier rulings, the ARB determined that the use of “spritzer” alone did not pose an issue.
The ARB determined that, in the South African context, the term “demi-sec” is almost exclusively associated with wine and sparkling wine. Given the product’s wine-like presentation, including serving in champagne-style glasses and its pale, wine-like colors, the ARB concluded that using the term “demi-sec” risks misleading consumers into believing Brutal Fruit is a wine-related product.
As a sanction, the ARB ordered SAB to stop using “demi-sec” in all Brutal Fruit marketing and instructed its members not to accept advertising containing the descriptor
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