Quebec Teamsters launch “Brown Bottle” campaign

Teamsters Local Union 1999 has launched an advertising campaign in Quebec called “Brown Bottle,” in an effort to raise awareness of the importance of drinking beer (in moderation) from a capped brown bottle instead of a can.

“The environmental impact of capped brown beer bottles is almost non-existent,” says the president of Local Union 1999, Serge Bérubé. “Unfortunately, the current trend in the beer industry is all about canned beer, which will also have a negative impact on local jobs.”

According to a Teamsters Canada press release, the single-use cans all too often end up in a landfill. The Teamsters also argue that hundreds of well-paying jobs will be at risk if the government is “slow to implement an environmentally and socially responsible policy on bottled and canned beer.”

“Like workers at Bombardier, our members pay taxes that contribute to the economic health of our province,” says Bérubé. “We therefore ask the government to show leadership and legislate to promote the production and sale of bottled beer, specifically capped brown bottles, just like in Europe.”

The vast majority (98 per cent) of capped brown beer bottles are recovered and reused 17 times before being crushed, melted and produced into new bottles, according to the Teamsters press release.

The Brown Bottle campaign involves a playful radio spot currently being broadcast in the Montreal area on 98.5 FM, 91.9 Sports, CHOM (97.7 FM), TSN Sports (690 AM) as well as on Radio X (98.1 FM) in Québec City and on 104.1 FM in the Ottawa/Gatineau region. In addition to the radio ads, a video will be posted to social media and on BrownBottle.ca, and ads will also appear in LaPresse+.