The CIVB has had its advertising slogan outlawed by the grand magistrate’s court in Paris.
The ruling, which echoes that which befell the BIVB (Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne) two months ago, found that the advertising slogan ‘Drink less, drink better’, was illegal. The CIVB (Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bordeaux) has been ordered to pay a fine of €2,000 to the National Association for the Prevention of Alcoholism (ANPA) and to cease use of the advert.
As with the BIVB adverts, the ruling centered on the Evin law of 1991 which regulates the portrayl of alcohol and tobacco in advertising. Although specialist wine lawer Pascal Goyard told decanter.com he thought the slogan ‘Drink less, drink better’ was a ‘responsible’ one, the magistrate concluded it incited people to buy wine and thus contravened the public health code.
The CIVB, however, is not downcast.
‘Our campaign conforms to the law, except for the slogan…which, in any case, we are not using,’ Roland Feredj, head of the CIVB, told French newspaper Sud-Ouest.
Sud-Ouest said the judgement had been beneficial in clearly setting down the areas in which wine advertising could manouevre.
Written by Oliver Styles
