The PepsiCo International owned brand has been banned from sharing further adverts that suggest its Peach Lipton Ice Tea has been discontinued.
Posted onto Instagram and TikTok, the advert from Lipton Ice Tea featured an image of its peach variant with white wings attached, together with the tagline ‘Rest in Peach’. The campaign which was seen on 18 March 2025 had been intended as an April Fool’s Joke.
PepsiCo said they believed the tone of the ad was playful, and the text ‘maybe one day peach will make a legendary comeback’ hinted towards the post being a joke.
However, given the adverts were posted two weeks before April Fool’s Day rather than on the day itself and did not clarify it was a joke by the brand, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) concluded that they were misleading and could result in an influx of demand as consumers stock up.
The social media posts garnered a lot of reaction from fans of the peach flavour. One comment on its social media post (which since been removed) even questioned whether it was an April Fool’s joke but dismissed the idea because it was posted in March.
“I immediately went to check if it was 1st April??!!!! What is happening?,” the comment read.
“The comment section featured comments which suggested consumers were unclear on whether or not the ad was a joke, or serious,” added the ASA.
The brand revealed it had been a prank the following day, posting on socials: ‘Oops, is it still March? Got my dates mixed up… thought it was April Fools already!’
In its ruling, the ASA said: “We recognised that the ads featured some elements of humour, such as the image of the can with wings, the “REST IN PEACH” headline and “RIPeach” text, but considered those elements were not sufficient to make it clear that the statements about discontinuation were a joke.
“We considered that consumers would likely understand that, because it was being discontinued, there would be a limited amount of time to purchase a peach flavour tea product before stocks ran out, and if they wanted to purchase the product, there would be a time pressure to do so.”
The ASA has said the ads must not appear again in their current form.
“We told Lipton Tea to ensure their future advertising did not misleadingly give the impression that their products were being discontinued, if that was not the case,” the watchdog added.
Commenting on the news, a Lipton spokesperson told Food Manufacture: “Our campaign was intended as a playful early April Fools’ joke that was not meant to mislead anyone. As soon as we saw it had caused some confusion, we quickly explained our beloved Peach flavour wouldn’t be discontinued.”
