Another One for the ‘Sorry, We Used to Be Crap’ Truth-in-Advertising File: Carlsberg Beer

Ben Chapman, reporting for The Independent in 2019:

After 40 years of advertising its lager as “Probably the best beer in the world”, Danish brewer Carlsberg has confessed that the famous slogan may not be true. Reacting to falling sales and increasingly harsh comments from drinkers about the taste of its beer, Carlsberg has launched a new recipe along with a more honest approach to marketing.

The campaign declares: “Probably not the best beer in the world. So we’ve changed it. Somewhere along the line, we lost our way. We focused on brewing quantity, not quality. We became one of the cheapest, not the best.”

As part of the new ad campaign Carlsberg is sharing negative comments about the old beer including, “Carlsberg tastes like stale breadsticks” and another comparing it to “drinking the bathwater your nan died in”.

I drank a Carlsberg once. Once.

★ Friday, 19 June 2026