Dunedin City Council liquor licensing co-ordinator Kevin Mechen said the $20 for 24 cans of Tui and Export Gold beer promotion at the Countdown and Centre City New World supermarkets in Cumberland St was so ill-considered he was considering talking to police about the supermarket owners' suitability to hold liquor licences.
"Something's got to happen. This is just rubbish."
The supermarkets' cheap alcohol deals were also criticised by Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin, who said yesterday "massive discounts" on alcohol were a contributing factor to disorder, in the wake of the unofficial Undie 500 car rally.
The weekend's events were tacitly supported by adults and retailers who catered for it by offering "massively discounted" alcohol, he said.
"How responsible is that? We have this alcohol issue - it's not just a student problem."
Mr Mechen said it was "mind-blowing" the owners of supermarkets could consider having such cheap deals after the rest of the city had spent the past year trying to stop a repeat of what happened in Castle St after last year's Undie 500 rally.
The beer promotion was another example of why supermarkets should be bound by the same regulations as on-licences, which prevented cheap promotions, he said.
Dunedin police liquor licensing Sergeant Wayne Pitcaithly said police could bring supermarkets before the Liquor Licensing Authority if it was believed promotions encouraged excessive drinking.
Any police response to the supermarkets' promotions would have to be made after much discussion, he said.
"We need to make sure we are making decisions based on the law, not on what we think should happen."
Hospitality Association Otago branch president Mark Scully said if a hotel ran a similar promotion "all hell would break loose".
"The [council's District Licensing Agency] and the police would come down hard on us. We are always getting the message about cheap promotions."
On-licences had long cried foul about a lack of limits on supermarket alcohol, not only because it undercut business but also because people's drinking was less controlled, he said.
He noted publicans paid about $25 for the same 24-packs of beer direct from the brewery.
But a spokeswoman for Progressive Enterprises, which owns Countdown, said the company had been "totally unaware" the unofficial Undie 500 was on, and had been holding the same promotion in nine stores around the country, all of which had either recently relaunched or opened.
Both she and Steve Anderson, who is chief executive of New World owner, Foodstuffs South Island, said their supermarkets took their social responsibilities seriously and made sure they stayed within the letter of the law.
Mr Anderson said Centre City New World had also been offering a special on Tui and Export Gold as part of a South Island-wide promotion, but at a higher price than Countdown.
When it learned the nearby Countdown was selling the same beer cheaper, Centre City New World dropped its price to match, Mr Anderson said.
"It was a local reaction to a competitor's price. In no way did we target the Undie 500. The number of people involved was so small we would never consider that as a target anyway."
DB Breweries was contacted for comment yesterday, but had not responded last night.
