The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has been forced to withdraw an advert which suggested a third of a price of a pint goes to the government.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint from a CAMRA member about the advert and ruled that it must not appear again “in its current form”.
The complainant said the advert, which appeared in CAMRA’s What’s Brewing magazine, gave the impression 33% of the price of a pint “in the pub” was tax applied by the government.
But, the 33% figure relates to duty on beer sold in pubs – and the off-trade as well.
In its defence the BPPA said duty plus VAT on pints in the pub amounts to 28% of the price but that the total tax on every pint in the on and off-trade is actually 39% when employment taxes are also taken into account.
The ASA said because the ad showed a pint glass and it appeared in What’s Brewing it “reinforced” the idea that it related purely to beer sold in pubs.
David Long, the BPPA’s acting chief executive said: “Far from intending to mislead people, this advert sought to bring honesty and openness to the debate on the amount of taxes people really pay.
“As only one person complained about this advert, it seems everyone else understood exactly what we were saying.
“Taken together, the total tax paid on every pint is in fact 39 per cent, and the BBPA will certainly make this clear in any future advert we do."
CAMRA, which has also been involved with the Axe the Beer Tax campaign, has also been highly critical of the ruling.
Jonathan Mail, CAMRA’s head of policy and public affairs, said: “We are bemused at the ASA’s decision.
“The ASA’s assessment seems to suggest that pint glasses are not used by people drinking at home and that our campaign should communicate the exact tax paid on each of over 2,000 different beers instead of using an average.
“Ironically the statement that the Chancellor takes 33% of the price of a pint is an underestimate as it is based only on duty and VAT and ignores other taxes, such as business rates and employment taxes, indirectly paid for by the beer drinker.”
