BrewDog has fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after implying that alcohol could be used as a remedy for disappointment, suffering and isolation.
The ASA dismissed a submission by the craft brewer that its advert did not breach strict advertising rules around the promotion of alcohol, as it had framed the benefits of drinking around everyday occurrences such as wifi dropouts and inclement weather, not substantive problems.
This line of defence was dismissed by the ASA, which observed: “We considered that although the ad used metaphorical language to evoke Wingman’s reliability, consistency and a sense of camaraderie, the scenarios presented were real-life problems that were likely to impact people in a negative way and the implication was that Wingman was a solution to overcoming those problems that were likely to result in boredom, frustration and potentially loneliness.
“For those reasons, we considered the ad implied that drinking alcohol could overcome boredom, loneliness or other problems and concluded it breached the Code.”
The craft brewer has been ordered to discontinue the poster and refrain from implying that alcohol can overcome boredom, loneliness or other problems in future campaigns.