Shepherd Neame makes most of 'Bottle of Britain' campaign

Shepherd Neame is making the most of its controversial Spitfire Ale "Bottle of Britain" advertising campaign - by selling beach towels and posters featuring the campaign.

The adverts, which were removed from tube stations in December after London Transport decided they were upsetting German tourists, feature slogans such as "Goering. Goering. Gone".

But they were cleared by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) which ruled the posters "played on cultural rivalries between Britain and Germany and associations of the advertiser's beer with World War Two".

Now one of the designs is available as a beach towel featuring the slogan "Have the sunbeds. We're going to the bar".

The tubecard-sized posters, as well as others from past Spitfire campaigns, are now available to buy from Shepherd Neame.

Other posters on sale include: "No Fokker Comes Close", "Don't Mention the" and "4-2" - the winning score when England beat Germany in the 1966 World Cup final.

Jonathan Neame, Shepherd Neame's managing director said: "We're delighted that the ASA agrees with the overwhelming majority of people who accept the ads as lighthearted and tongue-in-cheek.

"It's sad that on the basis of a handful of objections, political correctness was allowed to prevent London tube travellers enjoying our pre-Christmas campaign."

Posters from previous Spitfire campaigns in 1998 and 1999, also resulted in complaints to the ASA, which ruled they were acceptable.

Neame added: "People just love our ads. The letters we received asking for copies of the posters hugely outweigh any objections."