“Beware, FAS!”: Where to try the hangover menu, is it possible to believe Trump and how to get a role in the Tarantino film

We continue our section “Caution, FAS!” on the Rookee service blog, where we look at recent examples of unfair advertising. In this issue we will see what the end of the year was remembered for and what interesting precedents January met us with.

Hungover menu

New Year's holidays passed, leaving behind a halo of children's sadness and dirty snow underfoot. One and a half weeks of idleness mercilessly knocked out even the most powerful of us. Many advertisers decided to take advantage of this: January was full of advertising, which was supposed to reach even the most rested sections of the population.

One restaurant in Voronezh distinguished itself. With all seriousness, he approached the elimination of the consequences of rampant New Year's fun.



It would seem that everything is the case. The menu is, the snack is. But not so simple. The restaurant was not attracted for insulting the feelings of believers, despite the dark background and the characteristic appearance of the man on the poster. The severe bearded man, judging by the signature, turned out to be a local chef, and the concept of the poster simply corresponded to the overall design of the establishment.

Voronezh OFAS did not like the presentation itself. Antitrust officials suggested that the phrase “I won’t let you die” offends others with “the fact of their public use.” And the words "hungover menu" give the impression that all people around suffer from alcoholism. This is an insult to people leading a healthy lifestyle :) I

suppose that it was possible to avoid initiating proceedings under Part 6 of Art. 5 of the Law "On Advertising", replacing the colloquial word "die" with a synonym. Although the pathetic “move into the bosom of Abraham” or “go into the Champs Elysees” would hardly have received the response of the target audience. Indeed, it is easier to die than to find the meaning of these phrases in the explanatory dictionary.

Donald will not advise bad

The theme of non-standard food advertising was continued by the Lucky Star restaurant in the Komi Republic. Local creatives placed a cardboard figure of Donald Trump with a huge burger in his hands at the entrance to the institution.



Photo from the site syktyvkar.1istochnik.ru

It would seem that this is where the insult to the zoozhniki is: fast food of this size is not everyone will survive. However, the attention of the FAS was attracted by the raised thumb of the American president. The fact is that paragraph 2 of part 5 of Art. 5 of the Law "On Advertising" does not allow the approval of the object of advertising by officials. That is, the president (and it doesn’t matter which country, as OFAS separately noted in its decision) cannot recommend a product or service. I note that the public catering tried to get out, and quite nicely. In particular, they tried to prove that the advertising structure is an allegory of Trump's love for everything high (a wall on the Mexican border is a vivid confirmation of this). Thumbs up supposedly symbolized approval of the size of the burger, and not its quality.

But the idea did not work. They also summed up the inscription “Lucky Star” on Trump's jacket, and the placement of the structure near the entrance to the institution. Advertising recognized inappropriate. Still true, size does not always matter.

Once in ... Syktyvkar

As it turned out, even if the playful use of the image of a famous person can lead to serious consequences. On January 28, 2020, OFAS issued a decision in the case of advertising a residential complex in Syktyvkar, approved by Quentin Tarantino.

Background. In August 2019, Quentin Tarantino came to Moscow, photos from the tour became the occasion for a lot of jokes and photojabs. The developer also decided to use meme: he posted a VKontakte post, where an American director studied the construction of residential buildings instead of the Kremlin.


Photo from kommersant.ru

The joke that “Quentin approves” became the reason for the initiation of the case due to violation of clause 10 part 3 of article 5 of the Law "On Advertising". In short, the advertisement was deemed unreliable. Tarantino was not in Syktyvkar and did not buy an apartment there. Moreover, luring customers to the opportunity to get a role in his new film is like misleading (although Gerard Depardieu lives somewhere in Novosibirsk ...). An individual who placed an advertisement on his VKontakte page was brought to administrative responsibility. It was lucky that the copyright holder of the original photos did not make a claim - profit from someone else's intellectual property is fraught with a fine.

Didn't seem

If you choose what to recommend among the apartment, burger and alcohol, stop on the first two options. In the latter case, it is extremely easy to get under penalties.
In March last year, the FAS received a complaint about the video of Ilya Varlamov, published on the varlamov YouTube channel . One attentive and law-abiding citizen saw in the video a hidden advertisement for Dewar's whiskey. It was a few seconds of demonstration of a bottle of alcohol with a proposal to evaluate its quality. And finally, in late December, the appellate court made a final decision: The video violates the Law on Advertising. The court decided that the style of presenting information about the drink attracted attention, which means it is an advertisement. And since the Runet is recognized as the “virtual territory of the Russian Federation” (itself shocked by this fact), alcohol cannot be advertised here. Ilya Varlamov received an order to eliminate the violation.

Two conclusions can be drawn from this court decision. First, the appearance of alcohol in a YouTube video can be interpreted as its advertisement. And this despite the completely different topics of the issue itself. And secondly, this analogy can be attributed to other channels with photo and video content such as Instagram or TikTok. That is, even a private recommendation of an alcoholic drink by an individual may be subject to administrative liability. And maybe I just wanted to share my favorite brand of Spanish dry with my friends :)

Set fire but don't shake

It would seem that everyone already knows about the ban on advertising tobacco and tobacco products. But interesting attempts to circumvent the law "On Advertising" are still encountered.

In December last year, the FAS Russia Commission issued an order to Yandex and two other legal entities for contextual advertising of lighters. An advertisement reporting cheap lighters and gift certificates was a hyperlink to Price. The fact that the lighter is a smoking accessory was not immediately thought. And when they thought it was too late. In respect of all three companies, administrative cases are being prepared in order to impose fines from 150 to 600 thousand rubles.

In defense of lighters, I want to say that they can be used not only for smoking, but also for educational purposes. For example, for reading. How do you like this original way to immerse yourself in the world of 451 degrees Fahrenheit?


The most interesting question from this area right now is the legal status of IQOS. In 2017, the Moscow OFAS Russia already ruled on Philip Morris, which distributed IQOS banner ads on RBC’s website . Then the court equated the tobacco heating system with the tobacco product. In particular, because the trademark “IQOS” was registered as the 34th class of MKTU: “Tobacco, unprocessed or processed; tobacco products. "

And in 2019, the situation repeated itself. Two FAS directorates at once - in the Yaroslavl and Kemerovo regions - begin legal proceedings against Philip Morris because of tobacco advertising. The advertiser's arguments are the same as two years ago: “The IQOS system is aimed at heating tobacco (tobacco sticks), as a result of which the user inhales aerosol rather than tobacco smoke, as opposed to using cigarettes.” And, lo and behold, Yaroslavl OFAS takes the side of the advertiser and terminates the proceedings!



But with Kemerovo OFAS so far everything is complicated. Article, dedicated to expanding the presence of IQOS in the Russian Federation, was recognized as advertising. But whether the law “On Advertising” has violated its content, while it’s under discussion. The consideration of the case has been postponed twice already. Philip Morris insists: The IQOS trademark is used to personalize an electric appliance rather than heated tobacco sticks. That is, the article has nothing to do with tobacco advertising. We are waiting for the final decision of UFAS.

I am following this practice with interest. After all, it is curious why the multifunctional lighter has become the subject of non grata for advertising, and IQOS at the same time does not lose hope of substantiating the status of a conventional electric device (also me, an iron). Just sticks with tobacco "accidentally" are included. Interestingly, if you sell a cigarette lighter without gas (like IQOS without sticks), will it be an argument that it’s just a “device for extracting fire” and not a tobacco product? :)