Yak Ales Ad Vilified Redheads

In 2018, Australian brewer Carlton & United Breweries withdrew a Yak Ales advertisement after an advertising standards panel ruled that it vilified redheads, but the company did not apologize. The campaign claimed a "Ginger Gene" was spreading through its beer and offered $500 to anyone who found a hidden bottle of Rusty Yak Gingery Ale and helped "prevent its spread." The panel found that the advertisement portrayed red hair as undesirable and was likely to encourage ridicule. The brewer pulled the campaign while insisting it was merely an affectionate, light-hearted joke.

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