Strong reaction to an advertisement with a drinking Santa Claus. There will be a notification to the prosecutor's office
2025-12-30 15:05, updated 2025-12-30 16:43
publication
2025-12-30 15:05
update
2025-12-30 16:43
Beer advertising using the image of Saint. Mikołaja violated good customs – said the director of the National Center for Addiction Prevention, Dr. Bogusława Bukowska, MD, in an interview with PAP. She added that she would submit a report to the prosecutor's office on suspicion of committing a crime.
In a TV spot broadcast since the beginning of December, St. Santa Claus, played by actor Tomasz Karolak, places beer bottles next to the Christmas tree. Opening one of them, he says:For the first time in my life I feel like playing with the presents I brought myself“.
According to the head of KCPU, Bogusława Bukowska, MD, PhD, in alcohol advertising, the use of Christmas symbols, including the figure of Santa Claus, an important figure for children, is formulating a message to which children are particularly sensitive. She added that this constitutes a violation of the law, including good practices.
In the ad, Santa Claus brings alcohol as a gift and – please note – he drinks the alcohol himself, feeling great after drinking it. The child does not have developed criticism, self-reflection and the ability to properly analyze the situation – such a message shapes the belief that alcohol is great for any occasion, including indispensable during Christmas. This is unethical and contrary to good manners. It is about promoting the culture of drinking from an early age – Bukowska told PAP.
Nicholas and children from families with alcohol problems
She emphasized that in Poland approximately one million children suffer from alcohol use by their parents. These children require specialist help, they often experience domestic violence, and they are burdened with serious traumas that affect them throughout their lives.
– In the face of these data Santa bringing alcohol is something cynical and outrageous, proof of the lack of imagination and social sensitivity of the creators of the spot, she emphasized.
TVP will not broadcast a beer advertisement with St. Santa Claus
Telewizja Polska informed PAP on Tuesday that the station decided to stop broadcasting the Christmas beer ad with St. Santa Claus. On Monday, the chairwoman of the National Broadcasting Council, Agnieszka Glapiak, ordered an inspection of the advertisement and called on all broadcasters to immediately stop broadcasting it.
She added that in accordance with the Act on upbringing in sobriety and counteracting alcoholism, beer is the only alcoholic beverage whose advertising is allowed in Poland – but under certain conditions. It cannot be, among other things, addressed to minors, evoke associations with relaxation or rest, study or work, and professional or life success.
According to Bukowska, these conditions were not met in the Christmas beer advertisement, which violates the provisions of the act, which is why the head of the KCPU plans to submit a notification to the prosecutor's office on the suspicion of committing a crime – which she announced in an interview with PAP.
Owner of a beer brand regarding advertising with St. Nicholas: Prepared with adult audiences in mind
The beer campaign with Tomasz Karolak was aimed at adult audiences, and the spots were broadcast only in the evening, said Van Pur SA, the owner of the advertised brand, in response to PAP's question.
Van Pur SA, the owner of the Łomża brand, provided PAP with its position on Tuesday, informing that “the advertising spot successfully passed the standard screening process at TV stations before being allowed to be broadcast, without raising any ethical or legal concerns.”
The company emphasized that “the intention of the Łomża brand was not and is not to promote itself by causing controversy.” She also pointed out that “the campaign featuring Tomasz Karolak was prepared with adult audiences in mind, in accordance with applicable law” and “TV spots were broadcast only in the evening band, not intended for minor viewers.”
“The ad consciously uses the convention of a 'bad Santa' character, whose meaning and form are clear to adult audiences,” the company said. “The advertisement in no way suggests that the character created by Tomasz Karolak abused alcohol,” she added.
The National Broadcasting Council suspends the broadcast of advertisements about Santa Claus after complaints
On Monday, the chairwoman of the National Broadcasting Council, Agnieszka Glapiak, ordered an inspection of the Christmas advertising and called on all broadcasters to immediately stop broadcasting it.
In an official statement, the National Broadcasting Council announced that for a Christmas beer advertisement using the image of St. Mikołaja received over 20 complaints. Viewers paid attention to, among others: that the advertisement harms traditional values and positive associations, replacing them with an unauthorized and deformed image of Saint. Nicholas.
Magdalena Biejat, deputy speaker of the Senate, also submitted a complaint to the National Broadcasting Council. In her opinion, “we must say stop to alcohol advertisements on TV!”
According to data from the Central Statistical Office, in 2024 alcohol consumption in Poland amounted to 8.8 liters of pure (100%) alcohol per capita (including people under 18 years of age). 8.8 liters is the amount of alcohol contained in 320 bottles of beer, 106 bottles of white wine or 44 half-liter bottles of vodka.
Katarzyna Czarnecka (PAP)
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