Castle Lager hit with landmark ruling

The Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) ruled that South African Breweries violated the rules by using an influencer to advertise Castle Lager without clear disclosures.

Jana Swart, a fashion model with 16,000 followers on X, posted a picture promoting Castle Lager linked to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

A person lodged a complaint with the Advertising Regulatory Board, stating that Swart promoted alcohol with the required disclaimers.

“Her post did not declare that they were promoting anything on their posts or indicate that alcohol is an over-18 purchase,” he said.

He believes that the influencer was sent to the World Cup by South African Breweries and Castle Lager to promote their product.

South African Breweries (SAB) responded, saying the post forms part of a trend “GRWM” (Get Ready with Me) on social media.

The trend gained popularity ahead of the opening fixture of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, in which participants shared aspects of their match-day preparations.

South African Breweries argued that, viewed in its proper context, the message conveyed by the post relates to Swartʼs engagement with her audience.

It does not, SAB said, depict or encourage the consumption of alcohol, contain any product claims relating to Castle Lager, or include any promotional call to action.

SAB added that it did not pay to promote or boost the post, and that the post is organic social media marketing.

It argued that the post did not constitute social media advertising and was not subject to the disclosure requirements for paid-for social media marketing.

SAB admitted that Swart has a separate contractual arrangement with M-Sports Marketing Communications to act as a brand advocate for Castle Lager.

The Advertising Regulatory Board was not convinced. It said that the promotion should not have been published without a relevant disclaimer.

It said that Swart should have started “#sponsored” or that it is an “#ad”, even if it is not the sponsored account.

“South African Breweries is therefore in contravention of Clause 3.3 of the Social Media Appendix of the Code,” the ARB rules.

It ordered SAB to instruct Swart to remove the social media advertising immediately, as required by the procedural guide or include the relevant disclaimer in the post.