Brewdog boss pays out £500,000 in gold can row

The brag of Brewdog has said helium has paid retired astir £500,000 to winners of the company's misleading "solid gold" brew tin promotion.

James Watt said helium made "some costly mistakes" successful a promotion which offered radical the accidental to find a coagulated golden tin hidden successful cases successful 2021.

Some winners questioned the worthy of the cans and complained aft discovering they were gold-plated.

Mr Watt admitted helium "falsely thought" the cans were made from coagulated gold.

The co-founder and main enforcement of the Scottish Brewer said helium "misunderstood the process of however they were made" and made a "silly mistake" by telling customers successful archetypal promotional tweets that the cans were "solid golden cans".

"The Gold Can saga was header news. We were made to look dishonest and disingenuous and we took a existent hammering online and successful the press. Deservedly so. My archetypal tweets had been misleading and we deserved the flak," helium added.

Mr Watt said that due to the fact that it was his error, helium had contacted each 50 golden tin winners to connection them the "full currency amount" arsenic an alternate to the prize if they were unhappy".

"All successful all, it ended up costing maine astir £470,000 - good implicit 2 and a fractional years' salary," helium added.

In his post, the Brewdog brag revealed helium present owned 40 of the golden cans.

After conducting its investigation, the ASA said it received 25 complaints successful narration to 3 societal media adverts stating its tin prize was made from "solid gold".

As good arsenic complaints implicit the prize's authenticity, immoderate questioned however overmuch the tin was worth, with Brewdog claiming it was valued astatine £15,000.

The ASA said Brewdog told investigators that a azygous 330ml can, made with the equivalent 330ml of axenic gold, would person a golden worth of astir $500,000 (£363,000) astatine the clip successful October 2021.

But the watchdog considered a wide assemblage was improbable to beryllium alert of the terms of gold, "how that would construe into the terms of a golden can, and whether that was inconsistent with the valuation arsenic stated successful the ad".

Mr Watt reiterated successful his LinkedIn station connected Saturday that the "valuation of £15,000 per tin was accurate".

Brewdog has faced disapproval for its selling campaigns successful the past, arsenic good arsenic its workplace culture.

It made a fig of allegations, including that Brewdog fostered a civilization wherever unit were acrophobic to talk retired astir concerns.

Mr Watt antecedently apologised to erstwhile unit and said their complaints would assistance marque him a amended main executive.