Sarcastic BrewDog reacts as beer advert is banned

A BrewDog advert has been banned over a “tongue-in-cheek” claim that its fruit-flavoured beers are “one of your five a day”.

An email to customers dated 20 July featured the phrase as a subject heading – and promoted beers with names that included Lost In Guava, Pineapple Punch, and Lost In Lychee & Lime.

One person who got the email complained that the five-a-day claim was misleading.

Upholding the complaint, the Advertising Standards Authority said: “The ASA acknowledged that the subject heading ‘One of your five a day’ might be interpreted by some consumers as a humorous nod to the fruit-flavoured beers featured in the body of the email.

“However, because the claim referred to well-known government advice on health and wellbeing, we considered that, in general, consumers would not expect advertisers to include such claims unless the advertised product was recognised as meeting the requirements of that advice.”

BrewDog, which is based in Scotland, agreed the advertised beers did not count towards a consumer’s five a day.

However, it said it believed recipients would generally understand that alcoholic beverages are not equivalent to portions of fruit or vegetables.

The firm said the email was only sent to existing customers, who were likely to be aware of BrewDog’s “playful” marketing style, and that they would see the remark as “tongue-in-cheek”.

The ASA added that many consumers would be aware that some craft beers contain an unusually high amount of fruit, and in general would be uncertain as to whether an alcoholic beverage with fruit content counted as a portion.

In its ruling, the watchdog said that the ad must not appear again in its current form.

A BrewDog spokesman said: “We respect the ASA’s decision and are happy to confirm that beer is not a fruit or a vegetable.”