label credit: Howler Brewing

An Australian brewery has been called to task for a beer with a striking resemblance to a popular chocolate powder used in drinks.

Here’s the deal

Howler Brewing Company, an Australian craft brewer located in South Gippsland, Victoria, offers a Chocolate Milk Stout with a logo that bears a striking, and no doubt intentional, resemblance to a tin of Milo, a chocolate malt beverage mix manufactured around the world by Nestle.

And the brewery has been banned from advertising and promotion of its Milk Stout in its current form after a parent complained to the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation that its child had consumed the beer thinking it was a chocolate milk drink.

The commission found the product breached the district’s rules relating to the advertising of alcohol and banned Howler Brewing from advertising the stout across all media.

The commission’s ruling also directed the company to withdraw the lookalike packaging which we the suggest they do pronto, before the Nestle unleashes its team of lawyers and things evolve into even costlier litigation.

‘Those under 18 are at the highest risk in relation to alcohol-related injuries, including road trauma and violence,’ Commission chairman Ross Kennedy told news.com.au.

‘We will do all we can in our power to ensure alcoholic products that are for sale, are advertised or promoted within the law and do not encourage interest by minors.” “The way liquor is promoted or advertised can encourage irresponsible consumption, which in turn can contribute to anti-social behavior and alcohol related violence and disorder.”

Named after the mysterious creature that inhabits the swamplands surrounding the brewery’s town, Howler Brewing introduced its 5.2% ABV Chocolate Stout in 2019.

And we’re surprised it hasn’t attracted more attention from regulators in the country or the Nestle Corporation well before this unfortunate incident first surfaced.