Complaint against Dragon Soop Venom upheld

The Portman Group has sustained a complaint against Corinthian Brand’s Dragon Soup Venom, after it found the packaging to have ‘a suggested association with bravado’.

The complaint was made by the Northern Ireland Alcohol and Drugs Alliance (NIADA).

After consideration of the name Venom, the Panel concluded that it had ‘a clear association with poison’, which it considered implied that the drink was dangerous to consume and therefore required bravado in order to do so.

Commenting on the decision, the chair of the Independent Complaints Panel, Nicola Williams, said: “Whilst creativity and brands expressing their identities through their products is to be encouraged, care must be taken to avoid associating alcohol with bravado, or suggesting a consumer must be daring to drink it.

“In this case, the name and imagery created an overall impression that was over the line of acceptability. For these reasons, it was a breach of the Code.”

The Panel also discussed the snake on the front and back of the packaging and noted that it was depicted in an aggressive striking stance with its fangs bared.

The Panel considered that this also contributed to the overall impression that the product was inherently linked to poison, danger and intimidation, and that it therefore created an association with bravado.

A NIADA spokesperson commented: “NIADA are delighted that one of the complaints lodged against the drink Dragon Soop has been upheld.

“We feel it is important as an alliance who deliver Alcohol and Drug services, to highlight the worrying trends and feedback from our young service users regarding caffeinated alcoholic drinks. We are satisfied with the response to this concern and look forward to any amendments made to the marketing of the brand as a result.

“NIADA continue to have concerns over the promotion of caffeinated alcoholic drinks particularly for younger users where the risk of the caffeine masking the effects of the alcohol may lead to increased health harms and disinhibited risky behaviours.”

However, the complaint was not upheld against five other Code rules. These included alcoholic content and strength; appeal to under 18s; and health effects concerns.

In relation to these, the Panel noted that there were enough positive alcohol cues on the Dragon Soop Venom packaging which clearly communicated its alcoholic nature.

The panel also found that while the product’s alcoholic strength was clearly communicated there was no undue emphasis of the strength or intoxicating nature.

The product was also found to contain 3.75 units of alcohol, which is below the recommended four units in a single-serve non-releasable container and contained a responsible drinking message and a link to the Drinkaware wesbite.

In addition, the muted colour scheme, the font and the imagery were not considered to have a particular appeal to under 18s.

The Panel considered that the product factually and neutrally explained the ingredients of the product and did not overemphasise the caffeine content or the effect that drinking caffeine and alcohol could have on consumers.

The NIADA made a complaint against 11 Dragon Soop products in September last year, which was not upheld by the Independent Complaints Panel.

Both the NIADA and a member of the public had raised a concern around reports of the product being mistaken for an energy drink.