UK regulator bans BrewDog's 'bottomless beer' ads

The regulator also decided that consumers would understand the 90-minute message as an opportunity to drink as much beer as they liked, and the sequence of different varieties as an indication of the volume that could be consumed. The woman's enthusiasm could not be distinguished by viewers from enthusiasm for drinking alcohol, the ASA added.

Both ads, the regulator ruled, presented immoderate alcohol consumption as a "desirable way to take advantage of a promotion". The posts were deemed "socially irresponsible": they promoted "unwise styles of drinking" and "implied, condoned and encouraged excessive alcohol consumption". The banned ads may no longer appear in the form investigated. Tilray Brands was warned that future advertising for the brand must not encourage unwise drinking styles or portray alcohol as changing mood, physical condition or behaviour.

While not admitting a breach of the CAP Code, BrewDog pledged to introduce "stricter review procedures", involve its legal department before publication and review its existing alcohol advertising. The company also plans additional training on the CAP Code, to "update guidance" for local marketing teams and strengthen oversight of local social media activity.

This is far from the brewery's first clash with the ASA. Last August, a poster for Wingman beer was banned for implying that alcohol was a remedy for "boredom, loneliness and other problems". In 2021, the ASA banned a paid Instagram post about the Clean & Press hard seltzer because the brand could not call the drink "healthy".

Later that same year, BrewDog invited customers to hunt for cans made of "pure gold" Punk IPA and Hazy Jane in 12-packs sold through its online store. The ad promised winners a gold can worth £15,000, 10,000 BrewDog shares and a VIP brewery tour. The ASA found the ad misleading: the prizes turned out to be gold-plated brass replicas, not cans of pure gold. In 2023, founder and former CEO James Watt took full responsibility for the campaign, saying the mistake had personally cost him £470,000.

Back in 2019, an outdoor campaign for the alcohol-free Punk AF was banned for alluding to a swear word: the poster featured the text "Sober as a motherfu" next to an image of the can.

A string of scandals and over-expansion damaged the brand's reputation: according to YouGov BrandIndex, BrewDog's brand health fell to a record low ahead of its sale to the American conglomerate Tilray Brands in March this year. The figures at the time of sale were lower than at the height of the "Punks with Purpose" scandal: in June 2021, 250 former employees accused the company's management of a "toxic attitude" and a "culture of fear", as well as using "lies, hypocrisy and deceit" for positive PR.

Tilray Brands bought the business out of administration for £33 million, having previously been valued at £2 billion. The deal led to the closure of 38 pubs and almost 500 redundancies. A month later, in April, CEO Irwin D. Simon admitted in a conversation with investors that there was "a lot of work" ahead to grow the craft brand.