Boston Beer Company, the owner of Samuel Adams beer brand, says that its decision to remove the word "Creator" from a recent television ad citing the Declaration of Independence was based on a trade association's guidelines.
The ad was released for about three weeks around the Fourth of July and featured an actor quoting the founding document, ABC News reports http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/samuel-adams-defends-ad-omitting-god-reference-174944242.html .
"All men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," the actor said.
Watch the ad here:
It omitted words that reference God from the original: "All men are created, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
The omission of "by their Creator" created an uproar on
Samuel Adams' Facebook page by angry fans, several of whom promised to boycott the beer for the decision.
"Vote with your dollars. That's what capitalism, the free market and America is all about," said one Facebook poster. "I have bought my last bottle as well."
The Boston Beer Company said that it was following a rule implemented by the Washington, D.C., trade group, The Beer Institute.
"We adhere to an advertising code, established by the Beer Institute -- a beer industry trade organization -- that states, 'Beer advertising and marketing materials should not include religion or religious themes," according to a statement from the Boston Beer Company.
But the Beer Institute had a different interpretation of the rule and explained that the main purpose of the marketing codes is to make sure that any advertisement is not designed to attract underage drinkers.
"Ultimately, what determines adherence to the Advertising and Marketing Code is whether someone is using religion or religious themes to promote their beer in a way that would offend a reasonable adult consumer of legal drinking age," according to a statement released by the trade organization.
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