A West Coast pub is knocking the price of diesel off every pint of Carlton Dry in a creative bid to give locals a break from the rising cost of living.
From 4pm to 5pm on Thursdays and Fridays, The Empire Hotel in Queenstown subtracts the daily per-litre diesel price from the cost of a pint.
With diesel sitting at 325.9 cents a litre in the town, as listed on the FuelCheck TAS app, that shaves about $3.26 off the price.
The promotion started last week and has already proven a hit with locals and visitors, manager David Newall said.
Newall told Pulse a pint recently came in at $10.20, down from its usual price of around $14.
“They’re loving it and a lot of the tourists when they come in at that time, they love it too,” he said.
“It’s not about just making money, but just to give something back to the community.”
The pub leaned into the gag on Facebook, writing: “Inflation is a pain in the gas, but at The Empire, we reckon your throat shouldn’t be as dry as your fuel tank.”
The promotion also caught the eye of local fuel company Tas Petroleum, which put $1,000 over the bar last Friday.
Newall said the tab was quickly snapped up by tourists and locals.
Tas Petroleum general manager Nathan Thurlow said the company spotted the pub’s promotion on social media after people started sending it through.
“We found it pretty funny, so we thought we’d shout everyone a couple of beers,” Thurlow said.
He described it as a good fit for a small community with only two service stations, adding that comparing fuel and beer prices might surprise a few people.
“Everyone thinks they’re getting charged too much for fuel, but they’re probably actually really getting charged too much for beer with all the tax in it,” he joked.
“It’s only hops and water.”
Thurlow said diesel pricing was still bouncing around, with Tas Petroleum taking it “day by day” – meaning the size of the discount at The Empire will keep shifting too.
