And finally… fool’s gold

And finally... fool's gold

The boss of Brewdog has been put nearly £500,000 out of pocket after remedying a misleading promotion in which 50 individuals won “solid gold” beer cans.

Winners disputed the promotion after they discovered the cans were in fact only gold-plated and not solid gold, as claimed in initial tweets regarding the promotion.

A number of winners complained to the Advertising Standards Authority, which upheld the complaints agreeing the three adverts were misleading.



James Watt, Brewdog’s CEO and founder, said the 2021 promotion, which gave customers the chance to find a solid gold can hidden in cases, was a “costly mistake” and that he “falsely thought” the cans were made from solid gold. He had “misunderstood the process of how they were made”.

Mr Watt said he contacted all 50 winners and offered them the “full cash amount”, and that “it ended up costing me around £470,000 - well over 2 and a half years’ salary”, the BBC reports.

Share icon
Share this article: