{"id":8076,"date":"2026-05-09T12:38:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T12:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/8076\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T12:38:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T12:38:19","slug":"australian-drink-named-methanol-moonshine-labelled-deeply-insulting-to-memories-of-mass-poisoning-victims-consumer-affairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/8076\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian drink named Methanol Moonshine labelled \u2018deeply insulting\u2019 to memories of mass poisoning victims | Consumer affairs"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

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.<\/p>\n

The brand name \u201cis completely inappropriate and disrespectful to the memories of all of the victims\u201d, she says, believing it could lull people into \u201ca false sense of security about methanol\u201d when \u201cjust 15ml can cause blindness and 30ml can kill\u201d.<\/p>\n

The name has sparked a complaint to Australia\u2019s 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 \u201cmotorsport heritage, not unsafe alcohol practices or illicit distillation\u201d.<\/p>\n

On 11 April, a distiller scrolling through his Instagram reels was stunned by a sponsored post for the brand.<\/p>\n

The distiller, who asked to remain anonymous, says he was \u201chorrified to think that someone would be so irresponsible as to market a moonshine product\u201d and attach the word \u201cmethanol\u201d to it.<\/p>\n

A promotional image from Methanol Moonshine\u2019s website<\/p>\n

The distiller filed an official complaint with Australia\u2019s advertising watchdog, Ad Standards, which referred it to the Alcohol Beverages Advertising<\/a> Code (Abac) Scheme.<\/p>\n

For Clarke, the existence of such branding points to a fundamental failure by advertising watchdogs. The use of the word methanol in branding is \u201cdeeply insulting to everyone who has lost someone close to them\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n

In a statement to Guardian Australia, Wade Aunger, a cofounder of Methanol Moonshine, extends \u201csincere condolences to the families and friends affected by the Laos methanol poisoning tragedy\u201d and acknowledges the \u201cprofound impact it has had on those involved\u201d.<\/p>\n

Methanol Moonshine was established in 2020, \u201cwell before these events\u201d, he says, with the name \u201crooted 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\u2019s identity\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand that the term \u2018methanol\u2019 carries serious implications in other contexts, particularly following recent international events. We respect those concerns \u2026 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur products are commercially manufactured, regulated alcoholic beverages produced through legitimate supply chains \u2026 They do not contain methanol and are sold in accordance with all applicable standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Jones lost his daughter Bianca to the mass poisoning. Photograph: Charlie Kinross\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Mark Jones\u2019s 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\u2019t \u201clove the name\u201d Methanol Moonshine, as a marketing professional he understands the history behind it and \u201cwhy they probably came up with that brand\u201d.<\/p>\n

Jones says the Australian public \u201cnow know the absolute dangers of methanol\u201d because of \u201cwhat\u2019s happened to our girls\u201d. He believes the company could take the opportunity to choose a new name while still staying \u201ctrue to their heritage\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure there\u2019d be something else starting with \u2018M\u2019 that marries up,\u201d he says, suggesting \u201cMotor Oil Moonshine\u201d off the top of his head.<\/p>\n

Aunger says the company is not announcing a rebrand but is \u201clistening carefully to the concerns raised and will continue to assess our branding and communications in a responsible and considered way\u201d.<\/p>\n

A photo of Bianca Jones in her family\u2019s Melbourne home. Photograph: Charlie Kinross\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cOur focus remains on building an authentic Australian brand grounded in motorsport culture, while operating responsibly within the alcohol industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

On 13 April, Ad Standards referred the distiller\u2019s complaint to Abac. Four days later, Abac\u2019s complaints manager delivered the verdict: \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The complainant emailed Abac, demanding a review of the health and safety implications.<\/p>\n

By 20 April, shortly after Guardian Australia had contacted Abac\u2019s media team, the watchdog reversed its decision, saying it had been reviewed and the complaint would be referred to the adjudication panel for determination.<\/p>\n

The panel, Abac noted, \u201chas no power to enforce its decisions\u201d and the \u201cquasi-regulatory system\u201d relies on industry participants agreeing to comply.<\/p>\n

Aunger says his company is \u201cparticipating respectfully\u201d in the review and he will not comment further while it takes place.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever we do not accept that the brand is misleading or irresponsible in its intent or presentation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Methanol Moonshine is not new to Abac\u2019s radar, with a complaint upheld against the company in November 2021 for selling children\u2019s T-shirts<\/a> emblazoned with the text \u201cMethanol Monsters\u201d 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\u2019s clothing.<\/p>\n

Aunger says the company accepted the panel\u2019s determination at the time, removed the material and has since taken a \u201cmore considered approach \u2026 particularly in relation to advertising standards\u201d.<\/p>\n

A Methanol Moonshine T-shirt design<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese simple measures could save lives and prevent more families from going through what Simone\u2019s family and I endured,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bethany Clarke is still grappling with the unimaginable loss of her childhood best friend, Simone White. In November…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8077,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21],"class_list":{"0":"post-8076","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-austrlia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}