A complaint about a Byron Bay Brewery television advert has been dismissed by ABAC.
The advert from November 2019 featured people skateboarding with an unopened six-pack of Byron Bay Brewery lager, switching between skating and surfboarding and finally ending with a group of people cracking a cold one.
The complainant claimed that there weren’t adequate safety precautions taken by the skateboarder and the sport shouldn’t be conflated with beer. They also argued that the glass bottles are “unsafe”.
Part of the ABAC code stipulates that alcohol consumption cannot be shown before or during an activity that requires a high level of alertness of physical coordination.
Byron Bay Brewery owner Lion responded saying that there was no consumption of alcohol being shown before or during the skateboarding or surfing depicted, with people only drinking the lager in the final scene.
They said this made it clear that they had all finished their activities and were having a Byron Bay Premium Lager at the end of the day, after the high risk activities were completed.
The respondent from Lion said that the company has historically demonstrated a long-standing commitment to uphold “both the letter and spirit of the ABAC and ANAA codes”.
The ABAC panel responded saying that the issue wasn’t with the safety of glass bottles but with the depiction of high-risk activities, which it concedes that the advert shows.
However it said that there is no consumption of alcohol before or during the activities, the bottles remain unopened until the final scene.
It dismissed the complaint.