BrewDog ad 'misleading' for 'one of your five a day' claim

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that a marketing email sent by BrewDog in which it used the term “one of your five a day” to market its fruity beers could mislead customers.

The email, sent on 20 July, with the subject heading ‘one of your five a day’, advertised BrewDog’s fruit beers including its Hazy Jane Guava, Pineapple Punch and Lost in Guava.

BrewDog said it believed that recipients would generally understand that alcoholic beverages were not equivalent to portions of fruit or vegetables and the heading was neither intended to be, nor likely to be, interpreted as a factual claim.

The company highlighted that customers who had opted in to marketing emails were likely to be aware of BrewDog’s playful marketing style, and were even more likely to recognise it as a tongue-in-cheek remark.

The ASA acknowledged that the subject heading could be interpreted as humorous, however, the authority considered that, in general, consumers would not expect advertisers to include such claims unless the advertised product was recognised as meeting the requirements of the government advice. The claim also appeared in the email’s subject heading, positioning it as a key element of the ad’s message.

The ASA considered that, in general, consumers would be uncertain as to the fruit content of an alcoholic beverage and were therefore “likely” to interpret the claim to mean that the beers counted towards the recommended five daily portions of fruit and vegetables.

The ASA said that the ad was misleading and must not appear again in the form complained of.