The Portman Group has upheld a complaint against Sazerac that argued its use of an ice cream van to promote alcohol could appeal to children.
The self-regulatory body ruled handing out soft-serve samples infused with 99 liqueur from a brightly coloured van at university campuses in Birmingham breached its marketing code.
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US distiller Sazerac introduced the shot brand 99 to the UK in May.
The complaint, filed by a member of the public, argued the vehicle’s sticker-style graphics and playful language had a “striking resemblance” to children’s confectionery rather than adult alcoholic products.
It also pointed to the association of the name “99” to “99 Flake” ice cream, a prominent childhood staple in the UK.
The Portman Group’s independent complaints panel considered the promotion and the product packaging separately under Code rule 3.2(h) that prohibits drinks, packaging and promotional activity from having particular appeal to people aged under 18 years..
It upheld the complaint about the promotional activity while dismissing the packaging part, saying the “packaging itself made no reference to ice‑cream”.
However, it highlighted that although the activity was held on university premises, its Birmingham city-centre setting exposed the campaign to a broader audience.
In its defence, Sazerac said the activation drew on adult “nostalgia” for the late 1990s and early 2000s, and maintained it had used appropriate age-verification measures.
“Our promotional 99 Brand Whip Ice Cream activation was designed to reflect 99 Brand’s personality – flavourful, fun, colourful and creative. 99 Brand is an adult product, marketed exclusively to adults,” a company spokesperson said.
The panel rejected this argument, with chair Rachel Childs calling it “wholly inappropriate to link any alcoholic drink with childhood even in circumstances where age verification is in place”.
It also outlined Sazerac’s use of the “shots 18+ only” disclaimer as an “implicit acknowledgement that the format would otherwise be ambiguous”.
“This activation goes further than packaging; it physically replicates a childhood product experience as an introduction to an alcoholic one,” the regulator said.
Sazerac agreed not to repeat the activity in the same form.
The spirits giant was also reprimanded by The Portman Group in August over a BuzzBallz-branded Gacha Machine promotion on London’s South Bank, which the watchdog said appealed to consumers under the legal drinking age.
Meanwhile, in October, Anheuser-Busch InBev was rebuked on the same grounds citing the ‘bright, fun imagery’ and ‘juice-box format’ of its BeatBox RTDs.
