ASA rebuffs Stella over ad complaint

Interbrew UK has been dealt a blow by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after it endorsed an advert that ridiculed the "Reassuringly expensive" slogan for its leading Stella Artois brand.

The advertising watchdog has dismissed Interbrew claims that an advert for Michelob, owned by rival brewer Anheuser-Busch (AB), using the strapline "Belgium is laughing at your expense," intentionally denigrated its flagship premium lager.

The advert added: "The average price for Stella Artois in bars in Belgium is £1.11 per bottle. In Britain a bottle of Stella Artois costs £2.09. Reassuringly expensive... at least in Britain."

The ad then concluded with the statement: "Michelob. Premium lager on both sides of the pond".

Not only did this denigrate its beer, claimed Interbrew UK, but AB also made "a misleading and unfair comparison" because the retail price of beer across the board in the UK was greater than in Belgium due to a disparity in duty and tax over which the brewer had no control.

Interbrew UK also objected to the fact that AB's comparison for Michelob was between the UK and the US rather than Belgium.

However, the ASA was unable to uphold Interbrew UK's complaints and declared the advert neither unfair nor misleading. It concurred with the American brewer's argument that Interbrew had advertised Stella Artois as reassuringly expensive for many years and that those adverts played strongly on the beer's Belgian roots.

The price comparison between the UK and Belgium was, therefore, deemed fair by the ASA, also asserted that the prices quoted in the advert (sourced from AC Nielsen) had been made with allowances for taxes and duties.

Richard Evans, marketing director at Interbrew UK, said: "The fact is that beer is generally cheaper in Belgium, due largely to the significant duty differentials between the two countries. "We believe it was unfair to single out Stella Artois to illustrate this point and that in doing so the advertisement aimed to discredit the Stella Artois brand. "It is disappointing that the ASA did not share this view, but we have no plans to appeal against the decision."

The ruling comes at a time when Stella Artois is finding it increasingly difficult to bridge the gap between its "Reassuringly expensive" on-trade positioning and the often heavily discounted price of the brand in supermarkets.

The brand's "Reassuringly expensive" slogan has been one of the most successful marketing campaigns in the beer sector in recent years and since its launch it has helped Stella Artois establish itself as the leading premium lager in the UK.

However, as Interbrew's reassuringly extensive distribution moves the brand into the mainstream sector, Stella Artois's "premium" positioning is under threat from the increasing number of premium and speciality beers.

Meanwhile, Interbrew has also failed to prevent HSBC, a leading high street bank, using the slogan "The world's local bank".

The Belgian brewer, which styles itself as "the world's local brewer", lost a second attempt to challenge the bank over its marketing slogan.