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(Courtesy Sapporo)
As everyone in the publishing biz knows, misspellings happen from time to time. It’s unfortunate and embarrassing, but sometimes even the most obvious mistakes don’t get caught.
And that’s what happened with a special ‘lager’ collaboration that Sapporo did with Family Mart, a leading chain of Japanese convenience stores.
On January 5, Sapporo, one of Japan’s biggest brewers, put out a press release touting its new limited-edition release.
Kaitakushi Bakushu Shitate, (that’s Kaitakushi Beer Tailored in English) is a 6% ABV Lager which honors Japan’s first brewery, Kaitakushi Brewery and was crafted using production methods dating back to 1897.
The press release proudly displayed the high resolution beer can artwork which included the misspelling ‘lagar,’ rather than lager, (mid-can left)
After the misspelling came to light Sapporo put sales of the special collaboration on hold.
In separate statements, both the brewery and convenience store said they “sincerely apologize for the inconvenience to customers”.
Junko Fukuchi, a spokeswoman for Sapporo, admitted that the error, though very small and easily overlooked, was “embarrassing.” But added that the company had “been inundated with offers from our customers to help out by drinking them.”
“There are no legal issues with the error or the design, but it is certainly embarrassing,” she told the South China Morning Post. “We decided to cancel the launch of the beer, but we have had so many messages from members of the public saying it does not matter to them.”
According to Yahoo, “the company is declining to say how many cans of the 6 per cent beer were produced but confirmed it is presently considering its options, which include correcting the error on the original can and re-releasing it.”
“We cannot sell it as it is, but we have not yet decided what we are going to do,” Fukuchi said. “We do not want to simply dump the cans that we have produced – and we have been inundated with offers from our customers to help out by drinking them.”
