An advert by Bestway-owned Bargain Booze that saw Father Christmas dole out alcohol to customers has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), despite Bestway’s entertaining appeals.

On 19 March, the regulator ruled that the December 2024 advert breached its code as it had ‘particular appeal to under 18s’, and therefore the advert ‘must not appear again’ in its current form.

The ASA described the advert as having Santa magically gift-wraps bottles and refusing a plastic bag as he had a sack already.

Embodying the message of many cheesy Christmas movies, Bestway argued with the ASA that Father Christmas’s ‘appealed to adults as well as children’ and that ‘Santa was for everyone’.  

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The wholesaler also claimed that a scene where a woman covers her mouth in shock was ‘a natural response that adults would also exhibit if they came face-to-face with Santa.’

Bestway also said the advert was targeted to reach only UK adults on social media sites.

Despite the protestations, the ASA was unconvinced, claiming the adults in the advert acted in a child-like manner and that the advert contained ‘juvenile humour’.

Many of the adverts appear to have been removed from Bestway and Bargain Booze-managed social media accounts.

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