The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has slammed an online advertisement from BrewDog for making health and nutrition claims not allowed on alcoholic beverages.
A paid Instagram post from the craft beer company on January 21 2021 included an image of a can of Clean & Press Hard Seltzer and stated “due to advertising regulations we cannot claim this drink is healthy.”
The text below the image state “Even though Clean & Press is only 90 calories per can, with no carbs or sugar and a little bit of alcohol, this is not a health drink. If you are looking for a health drink, do not drink Clean & Press.”
According to the ASA, Brewdog claims the beverage is “only 90 calories per can” and contains “no carbs or sugar”, which is not permitted on advertisements for alcoholic drinks, as it suggests that the product is good for the consumer or has health benefits.
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The ASA also pointed out that the claim “a little bit of alcohol” is only allowed for drinks with an ABV of 1.2 per cent or lower, making Clean & Press ineligible with an ABV of 5 per cent.
The only nutritional claims allowed for alcoholic drinks are “low alcohol”, “reduced alcohol” and “reduced energy.”
Despite Brewdog claiming that the ad was intended as “tongue-in-cheek”, the agency said that “consumers would understand from the ad that the advertiser was intending to communicate that the product was in fact healthy.”
“We considered the ad therefore implied that the drink was beneficial to overall good health or health-related being,” ASA concluded.
Brewdog has agreed to not use the claims again in future marketing campaigns.
