Free Beer Handed To The Homeless Of Liverpool

A promotional campaign to advertise Budweiser beer has divided opinion as free cans were handed out to the public, including homeless people, in Liverpool city centre.

Last Wednesday afternoon a ‘Bud Light’ promotions van parked in Whitechapel and staff began handing out cans of lager to passers-by. The vehicle was told to move by council staff because it did not have permission to be there. But a reporter from the Liverpool Echo found several rough sleepers in the area had also been given free beer as part of the promotion.

One rough sleeper told the reporter he had been given quite a few cans and had handed some of these out to his friends. He said: “They were just handing them out to everyone, I ended up with a trolley full. I think it was sound. I think its ok giving those out, it doesn’t do any harm does it.”

But city centre councillor, Nick Small, was outraged at the stunt. He said: “They have done this without permission from the council’s Licensing Team or City Centre Team. I’ve had reports from members of the public that they’ve seen street drinkers and other vulnerable residents being handed free cans of beer by Bud Light.”

“I’m outraged that this is happening when Liverpool schools are on half-term too. I’d like to thank the City Council’s Licensing and City Centre Teams for acting so quickly and getting the van moved. I’m demanding that enforcement action is taken against the company for what appears to be a flagrant breach of alcohol promotion guidelines and licensing laws. This has no place whatsoever in Liverpool or anywhere else.”

In a statement to the ECHO, Anheuser-Busch, the company that makes Budweiser, said: “As a company and founding member of the Portman Group, we are committed to responsible drinking and take our role in promoting this very seriously.”

“For our UK Bud Light sampling tour we have processes in place to make sure only those of legal drinking age, who are not under the influence and not in a vulnerable position, receive a single 150ml sample can of Bud Light. This incident has recently been brought to our attention and while we believe it to be an isolated case, we are working with our sampling team to understand the specific circumstances of how this happened and to ensure that any future activity sees these products being distributed and enjoyed responsibly.”