Woman in Beer Costume UNWELCOME

A WOMAN dressed as a giant pint of beer has been banned from Fringe venues which prohibit alcohol.

The woman, who does promotional work for the Caledonian Brewery, was thrown out of several Fringe venues because they do not allow alcohol on the premises.

Jolene McKie, who was dressed as a pint of beer to promote Deuchars beer, was told to leave the Fringe enclosure on the Royal Mile and escorted from the Meadows during Fringe Sunday.

Ms McKie and another member of the Deuchars promotion team were handing out free postcards about the drink when they were approached by stewards.

They were told that they could not stay in the Meadows because it was a dry area which did not allow the sale or consumption of alcohol.

Fringe chiefs today defended barring the pretend pint of beer from their venues, saying it gave a bad impression during family events.

But the city council today said there was no reason to ban Ms McKie from dressing up as a large alcoholic drink.

Ms McKie, a 21-year-old Australian doing a few weeks' work for the brewery during the festival period, explained to stewards that she was not selling alcohol or even giving out discounts, but she was told it was "a family event" and was escorted from the park.

She said: "I was told by the stewards I needed a special licence as I was promoting alcohol in a dry area. I'm sure they wouldn't have said anything if I'd been dressed as a giant banana."
Marie Moser, marketing manager at Caledonian Brewery, was with the pint when they were asked to leave. She revealed that they had been told to leave the area in front of the City Chambers because it was reserved for street artists.

"I was very surprised because we were just giving out postcards, not beer or beer vouchers," she said. "We behave responsibly, avoiding doing things like having our photographs taken with children."

The marketing manager said they had thought the costume was in tune with the fun of the Fringe. She added that they were even promoting the Fringe with the postcards which said "Fringe Benefits".

Ms Moser said that up till now the only problem the pint had experienced was getting knocked over by children because of the poor visibility within the foam suit.

A spokeswoman for the Fringe said: "Fringe Sunday is a family event and while we admire the creativity of this particular exercise we cannot enable people to promote alcohol."
A city council spokeswoman said: "It is a Fringe event so it is up to the Fringe what takes place on the site. The conditions of their licence do not rule out promoting alcohol."