ASA bars Gordon Ramsay Gin Ad for Nutritional Claims

The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has barred Eden Mill Distillery from using a social media ad for Ramsay’s Gin featuring cofounder and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay that the organization found to have made non-permitted nutrition claims about alcoholic drinks.

ASA received and investigated a complaint about a March 20 ad posted to Ramsay’s Gin’s Instagram and Facebook pages. The ad featured a bottle of Ramsay’s Gin with text that stated that the honeyberries used in the product “retain the rich flavours and micro-nutrients that come from Scotland’s wonderful terroir.” The ad additionally claimed the honeyberries contain “more antioxidants than blueberries, more potassium than bananas, more vitamin C than oranges.”

After considering the ad’s claims, ASA concluded Eden Mill was not permitted to make claims regarding nutrient content in relation to alcohol. ASA upheld the complaint and barred the distillery from using the ad again in its same form. ASA also told the company not to make non-permitted nutrition claims about alcoholic drinks. In its response, Eden Mill told ASA it removed the ads.

“While we welcomed the action Ramsay’s Gin had taken to withdraw the ads, because the claims ‘retain […] micro-nutrients’ and contained ‘more antioxidants than blueberries, more potassium than bananas, more vitamin C than oranges’ were nutrition claims that were not permitted for alcoholic drinks, we concluded the ads breached the Code,” ASA said.