Argentine anger over Heineken's 'Falklands' beer label
Dutch brewing company Heineken has responded to customers in Argentina following an outcry over a beer bottle label which states that the Falkland Islands belong to the United Kingdom.
Buenos Aires-based newspaper Clarin says the controversy started when a Twitter user posted photos of a bottle of Heineken's H71 brand, saying: "Hello @Heineken_AR I have a little problem with the H-41 [sic]… I am going to show you. You wrote the Malvinas (Falklands) belong to the UK… You use Patagonian yeast and you go and do that you idiot?"
H71, brewed for the French market, is named after the longitude from where the beer's wild Patagonian yeast is sourced in Argentina's west. The French-language label shows a map of the region with the words "îles Falkland (UK)" next to the British overseas territory.
Another beer, H41, uses the same yeast and is named after the global latitude for the same region.
The post was retweeted over 2,000 times and started a viral campaign in Argentina against the label over last weekend.
Responding on Monday, Heineken's Argentina Twitter account eventually told customers that "This limited edition product was not being sold in South America and when the Heineken Argentina team became aware it requested the change at the global level. All the labels involved in this edition in the world will be changed".
The account has spent the last few days sending similar messages to aggrieved Twitter users.
Speaking to Clarin, Juan Pablo Barrale of Heineken Argentina said the beer would no longer be sold with the label.
Argentina has a long-standing claim to the Falkland Islands, which they call the Malvinas. The country's then military junta invaded the islands in April 1982. They were retaken by British forces two months later, and in 2013 islanders voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory.
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