Poppels' beer may not appear next to food in ads — Sweden's image rule, now on appeal

Poppels brewery in Jonsered markets its craft beer on social media the way food brands do: pictures of beer beside meals, bottles posed on a barrel. Checked against Sweden's 'bildregeln' — the Alcohol Act's image rule, under which alcohol marketing may show only the product, its ingredients, single packages, or trademarks — food is none of those. After the Consumer Agency reviewed the posts, the Consumer Ombudsman took the brewery to court.

In 2024 the Patent and Market Court sided with KO on seven of eight points: the food-and-beer images had to go, but the barrel picture survived. Both sides appealed. On 19 February 2026 the Patent and Market Court of Appeal went further: even the barrel image violated the image rule, and it rejected Poppels' argument that EU law permits broader alcohol marketing. The court granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court — a rare exception.

Poppels took the case to the Supreme Court in March 2026. CEO Mats Wahlström argues the ruling strips beer of context — food, craft, culture — and reduces marketing to product and price; the industry body Sveriges Bryggerier backs him, calling the interpretation unreasonable. The ban is not yet final while the Supreme Court decides, but Sweden's alcohol advertising reviewer warns breweries to plan marketing on the strict reading anyway. Poppels has floated the EU Court of Justice if it loses.