Retailers have been urged by the Portman Group to stop placing orders for a beer whose packaging encourages “immoderate consumption” of alcohol.
The product in question is OJ Beer’s 8.5% abv Premium Strong Beer, made by Liquor Zaar.
Zenith Global Commercial Ltd raised concerns over the beer’s potential breaches of Code Rule 3.2 (a), which states that a drink should not give higher alcoholic strength, or intoxicating effect, undue emphasis, and Code Rule 3.2 (f), whereby a drink should not encourage illegal, irresponsible or immoderate consumption.
It pointed out that the OJ Beer can features a cartoon man flexing his muscles, alongside “overt emphasis given to the higher alcoholic strength” (4.4 units). The word “strong” appears on the can multiple times, as does “imported” and “8.5%”, it stated.
The watchdog considered that the combination of multiple strength cues, including disproportionately large fonts and repeated overt presentation of the drink’s abv, alongside imagery representing physical strength, placed undue emphasis on the drink’s higher alcoholic strength.
In this case, the panel noted that some consumers would be “particularly vulnerable to marketing where the higher alcoholic strength of a drink was presented as a virtue” and expressed significant concern regarding its presentation.
The panel also noted that as the product contained 4.4 units of alcohol in a single serve, non-resealable container, mitigating factors such as a “share” message or per serve information should have been included on the packaging.
In the absence of this information, the panel considered that the packaging indirectly encouraged immoderate consumption. Therefore, the complaint was upheld under Code rules 3.2 (a) & (f).
Responsible retailers
As Liquor Zaar did not submit a response to the complaint, the Portman Group is urging retailers to halt orders of the beer.
“This is the first Retailer Alert Bulletin the Portman Group has issued since 2023,” said Portman Group CEO Matt Lambert.
“It is particularly disappointing that the producer refused to engage with the process or take advice from our free advisory service.
“The Portman Group will not hesitate to enforce the panel’s decision and request that all responsible retailers across the UK stop placing orders for O.J Premium Strong Beer after 15 December 2025.”
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