A controversial beer ad with Santa Claus outraged viewers. The National Broadcasting Council ordered an inspection

On Monday, the Chairwoman of the National Broadcasting Council, Agnieszka Glapiak, ordered an inspection of the Christmas advertising of beer with St. Nicholas and called on all broadcasters to immediately stop broadcasting it.

The announcement on the website of the National Broadcasting Council states that the institution has so far received over 20 complaints about Christmas beer advertising using the image of Saint. Nicholas. It is written that viewers are outraged by the use of this character, clearly associated with children and Christmas time, and in their complaints they point out that the advertisement violates traditional values ​​and positive associations, replacing them with an unauthorized and deformed image of St. Nicholas. As noted, this may violate Art. 18 section 1 of the Broadcasting Act.

As it was emphasized, “the action taken by the National Broadcasting Council to call on broadcasters to immediately stop broadcasting advertising is justified by the greater social interest.” “There is no consent of the National Broadcasting Council for insulting values, and social good is subject to protection. Undoubtedly, showing the figure of St. Nicholas in a negative context violates the above-mentioned statutory norm. It is a show of lack of respect and good manners, but also disturbs the atmosphere of Christmas,” said Agnieszka Glapiak, the chairman of the council, in a statement.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT CHRISTMAS BEER ADVERTISEMENT WITH TOMASZ KAROLAK.

I have been working in marketing/PR for years and have seen many “brave” campaigns that caused image crises.

I thought that in 2025 (well, almost 2026!), with so much awareness about the impact of alcohol on our… pic.twitter.com/bTWfpBmtzL

— Wojtek Kardyś (@WojtekKardys) December 28, 2025

It was reported that a request to immediately stop broadcasting advertising was addressed to Telewizja Polska SA in liquidation and the broadcasters of 68 licensed programs and 50 delocalized programs.

“I submitted an application to the National Broadcasting Council to ban the broadcast of Łomża beer. We must say stop to alcohol advertisements on television!” – wrote the Deputy Speaker of the Senate and MP Magdalena Biejat last week on the Instagram platform. She called the ad harmful and noted that for many people it could have become a reminder of childhood traumas when “an uncle or another family member ruined their holidays.” She emphasized that “there is no excuse for this type of advertising and there should be no place for it in public space.”

We plan to continue the topic.

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