By Laurine Krieger-Gall
2022 : A textbook case of the rules being broken
The clearest example from the 2022 World Cup was AB InBev’s “Buuuuud” campaign for Budweiser (sold as “Bud” in France). The slogan played on the French exclamation for a goal (“buuuut”), directly tying the beer to football, exactly the kind of association the Loi Evin exists to prevent.
AB InBev also used prohibited advertising formats, including tram wraps and giant station billboards, and ran the tagline “King of beers,” which the courts found to overstate the product’s merits beyond what the law allows.
The Association Addictions France took the case to court, and AB InBev was ordered to remove both “Buuuuud” and “King of beers” from its advertising, bottles, and packaging from December 11, 2022 onward, under penalty of a €1,000 fine per day, per infraction.
2026 : A more cautious industry
This time around, we haven’t seen anything close to that level of infraction. Alcohol brands (beer and spirits in particular) are still advertising heavily, as they typically do every summer. But most of them have carefully avoided linking their campaigns to the World Cup or to football.
A few borderline cases stand out:
- Kronenbourg 1664, “La Sélection française”: a blue-white-red bottle design, originally launched back in 2021 during Euro 2020, has resurfaced in metro advertising during the 2026 tournament. The name itself doubles as a nickname for the French national team, and the brand released a matching Snapchat filter. Neither “World Cup” nor “football” is mentioned explicitly, but the association with the national team’s success is easy to recognise.
- Heineken, “Plus de 190 pays, une même étoile”: a 2024 campaign blending national flags around Heineken’s red star has resurfaced on social media, notably on Heineken France’s Instagram, during the tournament. Again, no explicit mention of the World Cup, but the international, unifying imagery lines up closely with the tournament’s own narrative – a classic case of ambush marketing that rides the excitement of the event without claiming any official sponsorship.
- Taittinger, official FIFA champagne: Taittinger has been an official FIFA partner since 2014 (renewed through 2030) and has released a 350,000-bottle collector edition for 2026, promoted on Instagram and its official website. The brand has been careful not to sell or communicate about this edition in France. This is likely a lesson learned from being fined €2,500 in 2014 for World Cup–themed newspaper ads (“Bravo les Bleus!”). Still, its Instagram account remains accessible from France, and under French case law, an account with a majority-French audience can still fall under the loi Evin even when it communicates in English. And regardless of language, “Official FIFA World Cup Champagne” is, on its face, a direct alcohol–sport association.
- Bud x Adidas “Club Red” in-store stand: at a Leclerc supermarket, a football-themed prize draw (jersey, sports bag, ball) associated Bud with Adidas at the heart of the beer aisle. It’s more discreet than 2022’s campaign, but it’s a reminder that in-store, sponsorship-adjacent marketing hasn’t disappeared entirely.
Why the change?
We believe the shift is, at least in part, a direct result of the scrutiny and legal action that followed the 2022 campaign. Facing a real financial and reputational cost clearly made major brands more cautious about tying alcohol to football this time around.
Where associations still exist, (1664 being the clearest example) they’re more implicit, avoiding explicit references to the tournament or the sport itself, suggesting brands are deliberately working just inside the lines rather than openly crossing them.
Why this matters beyond France
For countries with similar alcohol advertising standards as France, this comparison offers a useful data point: sustained legal and public pressure can measurably change how even the largest global alcohol corporations and their major brands approach high-profile sporting events.
It also shows the limits of that pressure: ambush marketing techniques (flags, colors, national pride, unofficial partnerships) allow brands to stay close to the line without technically crossing it, and enforcement still depends on someone noticing and flagging it.
About Our Guest Expert
Laurine Krieger-Gall is a Legal Counsel in Health Law.
Laurine works as Research Officer Loi Evin at the Association Addictions France.
You can follow Laurine’s work on LinkedIn.
And you can follow Addictions France on LinkedIn.
