Brewdog told to avoid references to expletives in untargeted adverts

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the independent advertising regulator, has asked Scottish craft brewers BrewDog to avoid references to expletives in media targeted to a general audience as it upheld a complaint against an advert by the beer brand.

The complaint was raised against the poster and press ads in August 2020 which highlighted the brand’s sustainability credentials.

The poster featured large text taking up the whole ad which stated “F**k You CO2. Brewdog Beer Is Now Carbon Negative”, with the letters between F and K were obscured by a can of Brewdog Punk IPA. The press ads in The Metro, The Week and The Economist, were identical to the poster.

The locations where the poster has been displayed included outside of Fulham Boys’ School, leading to the complaint that the text “F**k You” was offensive and inappropriate for display in a medium where it could be seen by children.

The ASA ruled that the outdoor poster and advert in Metro – which is a widely available free newspaper – were likely to cause serious and widespread offence and was not appropriate for display in untargeted media.

The regulator, however, rejected the complaint challenging the ad in The Week and The Economist, as these publications were not free and had to be actively purchased in a shop or by subscription, thereby limiting the chance to ‘cause serious and widespread offence’.

BrewDog acknowledged that the ads implied a swear word but that it was not explicitly stated, which they believed followed precedent of what was acceptable. The firm said their intention was to “shock people into thinking” about the planet and carbon emissions.

The Economist in its response to the ASA said they had received one complaint against the ad on grounds of taste. All three publications said they didn’t find the ad inappropriate for their readers.