Swiss national team advertising for non-alcoholic beer causes unrest

The Swiss national football team advertises Carlsberg non-alcoholic beer. The problem: out of 27 centrally located stores in the largest Swiss cities, only two carried the prominently advertised beer, while 50% of the others had the five percent Carlsberg on the shelves instead. The professional association for addiction therefore considers the advertising of alcohol-free beer to be a ploy to sell alcoholic beer. The association also criticizes the link between beer and sport. Young people are being targeted in this way. The frequency of beer consumption among young people has doubled in the last 20 years, and binge drinking with beer has also increased. As reported by the SonntagsZeitung, Feldschlösschen, which sells Carlsberg, wants to work on better representation of the non-alcoholic version in stores. The Swiss Football Association has no problem with beer advertising. This is socially accepted everywhere. However, the Foundation for Consumer Protection now wants to examine a complaint to the Swiss Advertising Fairness Commission. According to managing director Jacqueline Bachmann, the advertising for alcohol-free beer is ingenious, as consumers primarily associate it with "real beer".