Moet & Chandon has been fined €30,000 - another win for the French anti-drinks lobby and its campaign against all forms of alcohol promotion.
Moet’s La Nuit est Rose campaign was condemned for creating an association between drinking pink Champagne and leading a wonderful life.
Visuals showed a bottle of pink champagne on a black background surrounded by pink petals.
The court said the association between Champagne and ‘la vie en rose’ – which in common language suggests a euphoric approach to life – was accentuated by the colours used.
‘We have no comment to make and we will not be appealing the decision,’ Moet Chandon spokesman Jean Berchon said about the fine for Moet and the restaurant chain, Brasserie Flo.
In conjunction with the campaign the Brasseries Flo restaurants offered a €20 reduction on the bill if customers bought a bottle of Moet Chandon.
The judgement, handed down on 16 January by the Paris court of appeals, overturned an earlier ruling in Moet’s favour.
‘The decision is a reminder that publicity for alcoholic drinks is authorised within clear limits and the content must only consist of objective information and cannot contain any show or performance,’ said the winners of the case, the main French anti alcohol lobby, ANPAA (Association Nationale de Prevention en Alcoologie et Addictologie).
The campaign, which referenced the iconic Edith Piaf song La Vie en Rose, ran in the press and on posters in 2003.
Written by Sophie Kevany in Bordeaux
