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‘A £500,000 mistake’: BrewDog chief executive James Watt apologises for golden can competition

Image: Shutterstock
Image: Shutterstock

One of the founders of BrewDog, James Watt, has admitted the infamous golden can promotion was a pricey mistake.

The chief executive of the north-east brewers has apologised after admitting he made “three very expensive mistaken tweets” that falsely said customers would receive a solid gold beer can.

The promotion, which took place in 2021, involved the hiding of 15 cans inside multi-packs of the BrewDog’s beer and said each was worth £15,000.

However, in what is now referenced by Mr Watt as the “gold can saga”, the cans turned out to only be gold plated and contained only a tiny amount of gold.

One of the worst campaigns in BrewDog history

It led to an investigation being launched by the Advertising Standards Authority(ASA) after 25 people complained that the prize was not made from solid gold.

In a post on social media, Mr Watt said the mistake cost him around £470,000, which was “well over two and a half year’s salary”, he claimed.

Mr Watt stated: “I falsely thought the cans were made from solid gold when they were indeed only gold plated.

James Watt. Image: Paul Glendell/ DC Thomson

“In my enthusiasm, I had misunderstood the process of how they were made and the initial tweets I sent out told customers of the prospect of finding ‘solid gold cans’.

“It was a silly mistake and it only appeared in around three of a total of 50 posts about the promotion but as it turns out, those three tweets were enough to do a lot of damage.”

After many of the winners complained and the investigation ruled BrewDog had led a “misleading promotion”, Mr Watt said it “blew up”.

He added: “It got pretty grim.

“What was looking like one of the best campaigns in our history was now, decidedly, the worst.”

Mr Watt then got in touch with all 50 winners and offered a full cash amount that was promised if they were unhappy with the cans.

To which he said he is now the “proud owner of 40 cans” and asked for ideas on what to do with them.

The post comes a month after their fruity beer advert was banned.

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