The Beer Debate: Grog-free beer brews advertising dispute

Anti-alcohol lobbyist are concerned over a new campaign advertising non-alcoholic beer.
Carlton United Breweries (CUB) have released a 15 second video, advertising their Carlton Zero product as a low-sugar alternative to soft drink.
The video shows a man drinking a Carlton Zero beer alongside during his lunch break, sparking concerns over when and where it’s acceptable to drink grog-free beer.
Click PLAY below to watch the Carlton Zero ad
Trish Hepworth, Director of Policy and Research at the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education is concerned about the advertising being directing to children.
“We think it will relate to a greater increase in kids drinking real beer,” Ms Hepworth told Neil Mitchell.
Ms Hepworth believes that if CUB is serious about just marketing to adults, they’d “only do it late at night when adults were watching.”
Click PLAY below to hear more from Trish Hepworth
Chris Maxwell, Director of Classic and Domestic Premium Brands for CUB told 3AW Breakfast that “whenever we launch an alcoholic product we get the anti-alcohol lobby criticizing us, and now we are promoting an non-alcoholic product and we are getting them criticizing us.”
“This is a product that gives adults who love the taste of beer more options and more choice when it comes to drinks,” said Mr Maxwell.
“Most of the consumers who are picking this up are sort of 25 to 34-year-old, health conscious people who like to go for a run or play footy on the weekend.”
Click PLAY to hear more from Chris Maxwell