Smirnoff’s eggs smell a bit fishy

The champagne Charlies at International Distillers & Vintners have received a drubbing from the Advertising Standards Authority after making rather an obvious error.

The champagne Charlies at International Distillers & Vintners have received a drubbing from the Advertising Standards Authority after making rather an obvious error.

In a promotion for the company’s vodka brand Smirnoff Black, this kind offer was made: “Claim your free 50g jar of caviar when you purchase a litre of Smirnoff.”

One punter replied to the ad and, to his horror, received a jar of Swedish lumpfish roe. As everyone knows, except, it seems, the marketers at IDV, caviar comes from sturgeon, not lumpfish. The ASA upheld the whingeing punter’s complaint.

The IDV marketers told the ASA that in their opinion caviar had become a generic term for fish eggs, though they assured the ad regulator that a proper description would be used in future.

Mind you, a free 50g jar of Swedish lumpfish roe with every litre of Smirnoff doesn’t sound nearly so tempting.