Packaged coffee spot stirs scandal

A TV spot intended to promote packaged coffee seems to have missed its target: instead of boosting coffee sales, it drew the attention of the National Broadcasting Council (CNA), which instructed all TV stations running it to kill it.

Packaged coffee producers say they meant well when they hired Graffiti advertising agency to create the spot. Actually, behind a spot and a coffee pack is a business intent: packaged coffee producers got fed up with dwindling sales and tried to stabilise the market by using an elegant approach. The packaged coffee market fell 20% last year alone, which is the sharpest decline in the last few years. The decline is due to the excises and taxes that pushed the bulk coffee market up, according to the representatives of the Romanian Coffee Association (ARC), which comprises the most important players on the market – Elite, Kraft Foods Romania, Nestle, Panfoods, Alka Co. and Supreme Impex. At the same time, the bulk coffee comes with a much lower price. CNA, however, says the spot commissioned by ARC is not well meant and is actually a case of unfair competition.

Ralu Filip, CNA’s chairman, said the advertising spot was in breach of two norms in the Broadcasting Law.

“The packaged coffee is said to possess qualities, which are not only its own and is inferred that the other type of coffee is harmful, which does not hold water. Furthermore, you cannot possibly promote a product by attacking another,” the CNA chairman said.

ARC chairman Gabriel Sidere says no one has contacted the producers to ask them about the message of the ad.

“We found about it from the media, as nobody called us for comment. We will meet with CNA’s chairman Ralu Filip tomorrow (i.e. yesterday) to discuss, but I believe it is about a misunderstanding,” Sidere said. “The spot actually aims to point out the benefits of packaging instead of those a specific product,” Sidere added. claudia.covaci@zf.ro