A Brewdog poster has been banned for suggesting that alcohol is a remedy for boredom or loneliness. 

The advert – which was for the brewer’s Wingman Session IPA – spotlighted the slogan that Wingman has “always got your back”. 

The ad began by listing small annoyances, including the Wi-Fi failing, bad weather and late friends. 

“But Wingman? Wingman stands firm. Always on station, always mission-ready, always got your back. Because every great operation deserves a great Wingman,” the copy read. 

Following the ad, a complainant contacted the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), noting that the ad implied alcohol could be a remedy for disappointment, which would be in breach of CAP Code rule 18.6. 

Brewdog stated that the advert did not position the beer as a remedy or coping mechanism; instead, it focused on the consistency of the beer. 

The company argued that the listed scenarios were clearly framed as mundane annoyances and not substantive problems requiring resolution. 

The ASA acknowledged that the problems were mundane. However, they also noted that the scenarios “were real-life problems that were likely to impact people in a negative way” and that Brewdog positioned itself as a solution to overcome them. 

The ASA sided with the complainant. The authority said: “We considered the ad implied that drinking alcohol could overcome boredom, loneliness, or other problems and concluded it breached the code.” 

The news of the banned advertisement follows a spate of bad news for Brewdog, which recently announced 10 of its UK pubs would be closing. 

The locations that have been closed include Dundee, Leeds, Brighton, Oxford, Sheffield, York and three in London. 

The flagship pub in Aberdeen – which first opened in 2010 – is also among those to close. 

On the closures, Brewdog CEO James Taylor said: “Following much consideration, we have sadly concluded that there is no realistic prospect of making these venues commercially viable.”