BrewDog launches ‘gold plated apology’ after advertising watchdog scolding
BrewDog has been slapped on the wrist by the advertising watchdog after falsely claiming competition winners would receive a “solid gold” can.
BrewDog admitted the prize cans in question were 24 carat gold-plated replica cans rather than solid gold as social media posts, that were hastily deleted, had claimed.
Coo-founder James Watt has said the brewer was launching a “bigger and better” campaign, where punters can win one of ten diamond encrusted cans or the £25k cash equivalent.
In a LinkedIn post, Watt also said he would fund a cash alternative for the original 28 winners, the “equivalent of over 2.5 years of my salary which I will forgo.”
The new campaign – promoted as ‘The sequel: A gold plated apology – concerns a selection of e-commerce products.
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) upheld a complaint from 25 complainants after social media followers of the Scottish retailer were encouraged to “hunt for the gold can” earlier this year.
Social media posts stated there were “5 gold-wrapped cans in 12, 24 and 48-packs of Hazy Jane on our online store.”
BrewDog said it quickly amended Facebook posts after realising the misuse of the phrase “solid gold.”
However, the brewer said that a single 330ml can, made with the equivalent 330ml of pure gold, would have a gold value of about $500,000 at the current gold price of $1,800/ounce. This did not include the huge cost of manufacture.
BrewDog said it could not see that any reasonable competition participant would assume they could win over half a million dollars of gold, especially as the can was roughly valued at £15,000.
A general audience was felt to be unlikely to be aware of the price of gold, the ASA concluded.
It also concluded that consumers would understand from some of the adverts that the prize included a replica Hazy Jane can made from solid gold.
The watchdog told BrewDog the advert must “not appear again in its current form,” and the company should not “state or imply” consumers would receive a solid gold can when this was not the case.
For the new campaign, three independent experts will value the cans and a value certificate will be provided for prize winners.
James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog, said: ‘‘We hold our hands up, we got the first gold can campaign wrong. While we still stand by the valuation, we made mistakes which we’ve learnt from.
“And now we want to give ten lucky people the chance to win big – way, way bigger than before. It’ll be a short campaign over ten days, and we’ll contact a new winner each day to let them know they’ve won.”