Brewery withdraws beer ad for mocking monarchists' campaign to make Australia a republic

A cup of tea may solve everything but the opposite could definitely be said for beer after an Australian brewery was forced to withdraw an advertisement because of claims it poked fun at politics. The billboards advertising Coopers beer said 'Forget the monarchy, support the publicans,' in a play on the word 'republicans,' which has riled monarchists who have been campaigning to make Australia a republic. Leading monarchist Philip Benwell said the Adelaide-based brewer had used its advertising to sell a political message. Benwell, chairman of the Australian Monarchist League, said: ''Why couldn't the advertisement have begun "Forget the republic?" We take a lot of things in good humour but this one we felt was too much of a political statement and therefore we lodged a formal protest."' Benwell complained last week to the... [read full story]