BrewDog Brings Back Gold-Plated Cans After Previous Competition Deemed Misleading

BrewDog has brought back its gold-plated cans after its first competition was deemed misleading.

The Scottish brewer previously offered people the chance to win 'solid gold cans', but 25 customers complained upon discovering the cans were actually gold-plated.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the promotion was misleading and BrewDog admitted it 'messed up' and brought back a revised version of the promotion.

BrewDog

James Watt, co-founder and chief executive at Brewdog, said: "We messed up our first gold can promotion.

"So, we have done 2 things: 1) Offered all of the winners from the first round the cash equivalent. 2) Launched a new gold can competition with clear T&C's & a cash equivalent included from the outset."

This time around, BrewDog has made it clear that people will be in with the chance of winning one of 10 diamond encrusted gold-plated cans or a £25,000 ($34,000) cash equivalent.

Gold cans won't be included within the eligible packs of beer, instead winners will be chosen at random and contacted over the phone.

The promotion starts today (Wednesday 20 October) and one winner will be chosen each day until 30 October.

Watt added that the original cock-up was his fault, and as such, he would be paying the original 28 competition winners out of his own pocket.

One of the original winners, Mark Craig, told the BBC he still contests the value of the gold-plated can that he won and believes it is 'not worth anything'.

Mark, from Lisburn, Northern Ireland, also criticised the company's apology, which he said was simply encouraging people to buy more beer in a 'new competition run correctly this time'.

The ASA's ruling said it 'understood the prize consisted of 24 carat gold-plated replica cans', but added 'because the ads stated that the prize included a solid gold can when that was not the case, we concluded the ads were misleading'.

The watchdog added: "We told BrewDog plc not to state or imply that consumers would receive a solid gold can when that was not the case.

"We also told them to conduct their promotions equitably and fairly, and to avoid causing unnecessary disappointment."

Topics: UK News, Beer

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey