Kronenbourg 1664 ad rapped for brewed in France claims

Heineken UK has been forced to drop a press ad claiming its Kronenbourg 1664 beer is brewed in France.

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The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled the ad misleading following a complaint that Kronenbourg 1664 is actually brewed in the UK.

The national press ad featured a glass of the beer alongside the headline “From the country that believes in the lunch (two and a half) hour” and text that read: “The French are famous for many things, hurrying isn’t one of them. So naturally a beer from Strasbourg, eastern France, is made rather slowly.”

Heineken UK said that the aim of the ad was to highlight the heritage of Kronenbourg 1664 and that it believed the brand was French in origin. It added that the hops used to make the beer were imported from France.

The brewer said that it believed consumers “would distinguish between the provenance of a brand of beer, as referred to in the ad, and the location where the beer was brewed.”

However, in making its ruling, the ASA said that the claim “So naturally a beer from Strasbourg, Eastern France, is made rather slowly” implied the whole beer-making process took place in that region.

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