Whale Safe Beer
In 2006 Australia’s Bluetongue Brewery (a boutique brewery based in The Hunter) embarked on a controversial campaign, in conjunction with Sea Shepherd, to save the whales (and sell more beer) by using a graphic advertisement that depicted a harpooned Japanese diner. The commercial was aimed at promoting whale safe beer and to raise awareness of Bluetongue Brewery’s support of the Sea Shepard Conservation Society and their quest to rid the Southern Ocean of Japanese Whaling fleets.
"The full whale experience" the diner demanded, and that is exactly what he got.
What is whale safe beer? Well it was based on the assertion that Japan was hunting hundreds of whales each year in Australia’s backyard, the Southern Ocean, on the pretext of scientific research. Bluetongue Brewery wanted Australians to be aware of who owned their beer companies, and what the owners of those brewers really represented and stood for. Essentially Bluetongue’s whale-safe campaign claimed that drinking Lion Nathan-owned beers such as Tooheys, Hahn and XXXX is a vote for killing whales because of it’s ownership by Kirin, a Japanese brewing company.
The mastermind behind the Bluetongue campaign was advertising guru John “Singo” Singleton who called on Kirin to clarify its whaling stance: “Australian drinkers deserve to know are they pro-whaling or not?”
A Lion Nathan spokesman retaliated with: “Australians are wise enough to make their own decisions as to whether this is a multi-millionaire trying to stoke racism in the Australian community to try to make a buck.”
Here is the ad, what do you think?
Funnily, since the stoush, here is a list of iconic Aussie beers that are now 100% Japanese-owned. Maybe a wise investment on Japan’s part, regardless of the state of the Australian economy we will always be a beer guzzling nation.
Beer Museum Yebisu
Top 15 Japanese Beer Girls
Zero Life – Depression In A Can
Go-Shu Blue Super Premium Junmai Ginjo Sake
Asahi Brewery Osaka
I think all or most of our Aussie beer companies are owned by either the Japanese or Brits these days. Good thing for Broo, which is 100% Australian and based on the Mornington Peninsula.
Japan Australia
Thanks for the shout out JA! I’ve imbibed a few Broo brews but now I will have to make more of an effort to support their cause (even if it is made south of the border).
Love their tagline:
“Broo. 100% Australian owned. Always was, always will be.
We’re helping to build a country, not sell one.”
No worries Reesan! It is a great tagline and was lucky enough to pick up a few slabs (shares) when they first came out
What the? All those Aussie beers are Japanese owned?
Kirin is 100% owner of Lion Nathan which means Japanese ownership of following beer brands:
[Australia]
Tooheys
XXXX
Hahn
James Squire
J. Boag & Son
West End
Southwark
Swan Brewery
Emu Brewery
[New Zealand]
Speight’s
Lion
Steinlager
Mac’s Craft Beers (McCashins Brewery)
Mac’s Brewery Spring Tide beer bottle
Canterbury Draught
I like your commercials down there in Australia…
You ever seen Chaser’s War On Everything?
I defend Japan’s right to eat whale and buy Aussie breweries, in the same vein as it is our right to eat kangaroo and buy foreign breweries. The finger pointing should be directed at the Australian Government. If we are not allowed to buy Japanese companies then the Govt should ensure that they cannot buy ours.
As for Sea Shepherd, they are nothing more than glorified, hippy vigilantes. Again, the Govt needs to dispatch just one naval vessel to ensure that the Japanese “Research vessel” does not trespass into Australian waters while simultaneously making the Sea Shepherd redundant.
There are plenty of minke whales, without the need for Japan to come into our backyard. Even Aust Govt websites state about minke whales; “the population is estimated to be above the threshold considered to be threatened.”
Nunnster, long time, how have you been?
Thanks for your insights on the Minke Whale. What are your thoughts on the Fin and Sei whale which have been protected since the 70s yet continue to be caught by Japanese whalers under the “scientific permit” and, according to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), these whales are protected as they are considered to have whale populations in the Southern Hemisphere that have been “heavily exploited by industrial whaling” and are considered endangered species?
Also, mainstream Aussie breweries owned by Japanese conglomerates… so be it. Thankfully I prefer locally-produced craft beers.
The Fin and Sei whales are listed as “vulnerable” but not endangered. If they were to become extinct, the race which would suffer most would be the Japanese – no more Fin/Sei soup, ever. If the Aust Navy are not deployed to protect our waters, thus reducing the number of whales caught, then hopefully Japanese common sense will prevail.
I have bought and tried Broo beer and even have a handful of shares. Alas James Squires is a far superior drop and Boags too for that matter. Vegemite is owned by Kraft; a US conglomerate. I’m not giving up Vegemite because of it.
Asking an Aussie to give up Vegemite is like asking a Nippon to give up whale meat.
We can haggle over vulnerabe versus endangered (I’d be interested to see your sources can you share them?). The point is that both species are protected by the IWC. Your suggestion about the Aust Navy did make me laugh though, so thanks for adding a bit of humour to your comment. Why does Australia need to fund the protection whales by paying for their Navy to be deployed when Japan should simply observe the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling? And if they don’t, then Japanese whalers are free game in international waters for even glorified, hippy vigilantes to annoy them.
James Squires is losing its edge by becoming too mainstream, you’re living in the past with that one.
“fin (Balaenoptera physalus) and sei (Balaenoptera borealis) whales are listed as vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).” Current as at 2010. http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/recovery/balaenoptera-sp/pubs/balaenoptera-sp.pdf
Up until 2006, there were no speed limits for Northern Territory. If you lived in the rest of Australia, you had to abide by the speed limits. Most people did. Some people didn’t. Some were caught. Some weren’t. But zero would have been caught for speeding if it wasn’t policed.
To draw a parallel to whaling, there are laws set, but no govt dept to police it.
If I went all the way to NT (pre 2006) and some vigilante group tried to stop me from legally driving as fast as I wanted, I would be rightly p1ssed. So too, the whalers should be left alone in international waters.
To summarise; yes, Japan should abide by the rules but they don’t always. We can’t stop the whalers all of the time, but we can make life difficult for them and reduce their numbers by policing it.
Nunnster, your source quotes these whales as vulnerable in Australian waters but endangered in International waters. Below is a quote from your source which supports my position:
True and pygmy blue whales, as well as fin and sei whales are afforded a degree of international protection through listing on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), and on Appendix I of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). True blue, fin and sei whales are also listed endangered on the World Conservation Union’s Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN).
Also, your “speeding in the Northern Territory” parallel is amusing. Here is a just as absurd counter parallel – if you were abducted by Somali pirates or guerrilla rebels and held hostage for ransom and your wife retained the services of a private hostage rescue and extraction team to free you from your captivity you would actually refuse their service and choose to remain a hostage because, on principle, the extraction team are just a vigilante group not endorsed by any government and are not police. If I read your comment correctly, you would be “rightly pissed” and asked to be left alone if they turned up and offered to take you to safety.
Well it would all depend on what beer they had. If they were making me drink XXXX, I’m sure that I would capitulate and be happy for vigilantes to blow them out of the water. If, on the other hand, they had an ample stock of RedOak, I would be prepared to wait for the navy.
Why don’t they just set up cameras in the Southern Ocean, and send them a fine if they are caught whaling?
Or get Julia to slap a carbon tax on them, whenever they pass through.
The advertisement video for is hilarious but does carry an important message.
I’m against companies killing whales to make beverages. It’s cruel but then again to make a dollar people will
do anything and everything.