Bethany Clarke is still grappling with the unimaginable loss of her childhood best friend, Simone White. In November 2024, the 28-year-old British lawyer was among six tourists, including 19-year-old Australians Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, to die after a suspected mass methanol poisoning in Laos.

Clarke, an Australian who was travelling with White and survived the poisoning, was shocked when she heard about an Australian alcoholic beverage named Methanol Moonshine.

The brand name “is completely inappropriate and disrespectful to the memories of all of the victims”, she says, believing it could lull people into “a false sense of security about methanol” when “just 15ml can cause blindness and 30ml can kill”.

The name has sparked a complaint to Australia’s advertising watchdog but the company has defended its branding, saying it was created well before the Laos tragedy and is a reference to the use of methanol fuel in Australian speedway and drag racing, reflecting “motorsport heritage, not unsafe alcohol practices or illicit distillation”.

On 11 April, a distiller scrolling through his Instagram reels was stunned by a sponsored post for the brand.

The distiller, who asked to remain anonymous, says he was “horrified to think that someone would be so irresponsible as to market a moonshine product” and attach the word “methanol” to it.

A promotional image from Methanol Moonshine’s website

The distiller filed an official complaint with Australia’s advertising watchdog, Ad Standards, which referred it to the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code (Abac) Scheme.

For Clarke, the existence of such branding points to a fundamental failure by advertising watchdogs. The use of the word methanol in branding is “deeply insulting to everyone who has lost someone close to them”.

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In a statement to Guardian Australia, Wade Aunger, a cofounder of Methanol Moonshine, extends “sincere condolences to the families and friends affected by the Laos methanol poisoning tragedy” and acknowledges the “profound impact it has had on those involved”.

Methanol Moonshine was established in 2020, “well before these events”, he says, with the name “rooted in our long-standing connection to Australian speedway and drag racing, where methanol fuel is widely used and forms a central part of the sport’s identity”.

“We understand that the term ‘methanol’ carries serious implications in other contexts, particularly following recent international events. We respect those concerns … At the same time, our brand has always been positioned within a clearly defined motorsport context, and we do not believe it promotes or trivialises unsafe behaviour.

“Our products are commercially manufactured, regulated alcoholic beverages produced through legitimate supply chains … They do not contain methanol and are sold in accordance with all applicable standards.”

Mark Jones lost his daughter Bianca to the mass poisoning. Photograph: Charlie Kinross/The Guardian

Mark Jones’s 19-year-old daughter, Bianca, was among those who died after drinking what is suspected to have been methanol-laced alcohol while holidaying in Laos with her best friend, Holly. While he doesn’t “love the name” Methanol Moonshine, as a marketing professional he understands the history behind it and “why they probably came up with that brand”.

Jones says the Australian public “now know the absolute dangers of methanol” because of “what’s happened to our girls”. He believes the company could take the opportunity to choose a new name while still staying “true to their heritage”.

“I’m sure there’d be something else starting with ‘M’ that marries up,” he says, suggesting “Motor Oil Moonshine” off the top of his head.

Aunger says the company is not announcing a rebrand but is “listening carefully to the concerns raised and will continue to assess our branding and communications in a responsible and considered way”.

A photo of Bianca Jones in her family’s Melbourne home. Photograph: Charlie Kinross/The Guardian

“Our focus remains on building an authentic Australian brand grounded in motorsport culture, while operating responsibly within the alcohol industry.”

On 13 April, Ad Standards referred the distiller’s complaint to Abac. Four days later, Abac’s complaints manager delivered the verdict: “The Chief Adjudicator of the Panel has decided that your complaint does not raise issues under the ABAC Code and will therefore not be referred to the ABAC Panel.”

The complainant emailed Abac, demanding a review of the health and safety implications.

By 20 April, shortly after Guardian Australia had contacted Abac’s media team, the watchdog reversed its decision, saying it had been reviewed and the complaint would be referred to the adjudication panel for determination.

The panel, Abac noted, “has no power to enforce its decisions” and the “quasi-regulatory system” relies on industry participants agreeing to comply.

Aunger says his company is “participating respectfully” in the review and he will not comment further while it takes place.

“However we do not accept that the brand is misleading or irresponsible in its intent or presentation,” he says.

Methanol Moonshine is not new to Abac’s radar, with a complaint upheld against the company in November 2021 for selling children’s T-shirts emblazoned with the text “Methanol Monsters” and featuring photographs of children wearing the merchandise on its website. An Abac panel found the merchandise breached standards by promoting an alcohol brand on children’s clothing.

Aunger says the company accepted the panel’s determination at the time, removed the material and has since taken a “more considered approach … particularly in relation to advertising standards”.

A Methanol Moonshine T-shirt design

For Clarke, the debate goes beyond advertising codes. She is campaigning for the UK and Australian governments to introduce visible resources in airports and on flights warning about the dangers of methanol poisoning in high-risk destinations, and to integrate awareness into school curriculums.

“These simple measures could save lives and prevent more families from going through what Simone’s family and I endured,” she says.