B&M ad for prosecco glass that can contain an entire bottle banned for encouraging excessive drinking

The advertising watchdog said the ad breached its code and went against health guidelines

A B&M Stores advert for a glass that can hold a full bottle of prosecco has been banned by the advertising watchdog for encouraging excessive drinking.

In a Facebook post last November, the product was promoted with the caption: “Like Prosecco? Then you’ll LOVE these glasses- they can hold a FULL bottle [3 heart eye emojis]! Plus, we’ve got Prosecco in store for just £5.99 so it’s a perfect time to stock up for Christmas. TAG the biggest Prosecco fan you know!”.

B&M also published a video which showed an entire bottle of prosecco being poured into one of the glasses, with accompanying on-screen text which read: “Introducing B&Ms Giant Prosecco Glass The perfect gift for Prosecco lovers! This glass holds an entire bottle of Prosecco So you don’t have to get up for refills Enjoy a glass with friends this festive season Please drink responsibly”.

A complaint was made to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) challenging whether the ad was in breach of the advertising code, because it implied, condoned or encouraged excessive consumption of alcohol.

B&M said it was “confident that the ad only demonstrated the product for its intended use as a wine glass and its maximum capacity to hold a bottle of Prosecco”. The retailer also said it had included a “Drink Responsibly” message in the video.

However, the ASA said as the message was only shown at the end of the video for a few seconds, it was not “sufficient to counteract the overall impression of the ad”.

“As the ad promoted the whole bottle of prosecco being poured in to the glass and implied it was acceptable for one person to consume an entire bottle of prosecco in one sitting, we concluded that the ad was irresponsible and breached the code because it encouraged excessive drinking,” the ASA said.

The ADA added: "The Chief Medical Officers’ low risk unit guidelines recommended that adults only drink 14 units of alcohol per week and that as a bottle of prosecco was roughly 8.2 units the ad was also encouraging consumers to have roughly 60 per cent of the advised weekly units in one sitting."

B&M, which removed the Facebook post when the complaint was made, has been told the ad must not appear again in its current form, and the ASA said: “We told B&M to ensure that their future advertising did not lead people to adopt styles of drinking that are unwise – for example, by not encouraging excessive drinking, i.e. by showing a whole bottle of alcohol with the intention it is consumed by one person in a single sitting.”

The retailer said it will review all future promotional videos with its agency.

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