Non-alcoholic beer that is even suitable for pregnant women? The Bitburger Brewery is starting the new year with an advertising campaign – and is facing a lot of headwind.
Bitburg – Advertising has to attract attention. The Bitburger Brewery's new campaign does exactly that. The traditional brewery advertises its non-alcoholic beer with pregnant women – and thus also receives negative comments and criticism from experts.
Bitburger advertises non-alcoholic beer to pregnant women
For many people, the beginning of the year is filled with good resolutions. One of them: drink less alcohol. In keeping with the “Dry January” health campaign, which calls for responsible use of alcohol, Bitburger launched an advertising campaign for its alcohol-free beer with the slogan: “Tested by mothers. Brewed for you all”. The aim is to specifically give voice to the target group who are the absolute experts in drinks without any alcohol: pregnant women and young mothers, explained Marketing Director Christoph Weber when asked horizon.
A discussion broke out online about this. On the one hand, the picture of the pregnant woman drinking beer received an above-average number of likes on social media, but also numerous negative comments. Many found the campaign simply in poor taste. “Provocation at any price does not make for good advertising,” wrote one user on Instagram. “We are sorry that there are misunderstandings and criticism and it was certainly not intentional – the topic of responsibility played a major role in all of our considerations,” said Weber, commenting on the partly negative reactions.
Non-alcoholic beer for pregnant women? That's what experts say
Experts for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) sound the alarm. The campaign photo was a “completely wrong signal,” said Tobias Wolff from the FASD specialist center Hamburgdem Hamburger Abendblatt and lodged a complaint with the Advertising Council. “This campaign tends to trivialize the enjoyment of beer,” Wolff continued. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause serious harm to the unborn child. “For example, malformations of the skeleton and face can occur, as well as kidney damage, heart malformations and other, especially neurological, developmental delays,” explained gynecologist Judith Bildau in an interview with RTL. These include mental disabilities and learning, memory or concentration disorders.
The problem: Even non-alcoholic beer can contain residual alcohol. “To make it, beer is first brewed that has a normal alcohol content. Then a process takes place that removes it. However, with today's technology this is not always guaranteed. That’s why there often remains a residual alcohol content,” continued the expert Bildau. As long as the limit is below 0.5 percent alcohol by volume, a beer can be described as alcohol-free in Germany.
Bitburger about non-alcoholic beer: “Residual alcohol lower than with apple juice”
Bitburger counters: “Precisely because no alcohol should be consumed during pregnancy or breastfeeding, we wanted to offer a real alternative with our completely alcohol-free Bitburger 0.0 percent,” the brewery told RTL. The residual alcohol in non-alcoholic beer is “mathematicall
y speaking, always 0.0 percent” and is “even lower than with apple juice and also harmless for expectant mothers,” it continued.
Every year around 10,000 children in Germany are born with FASD and some of them require lifelong help. “Around 80 percent of those affected cannot work permanently, 70 percent are dependent on care, and 60 percent develop an addictive disorder,” said qualified psychologist Gela Becker spectrum of science. It is tragic that FASD could be 100 percent preventable, explains the FASD specialist center in Hamburg and warns on its website: “There are not a safe amount (alcohol)“.
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