BrewDog doesn't 'give a sh*t' about Portman Group ruling
Co-founder James Watt issued a formal apology to the Portman Group for “not giving a shit” about the ruling.
“Indeed, we are sorry for never giving a shit about anything the Portman Group has to say, and treating all of its statements with callous indifference and nonchalance,” he went on.
“Unfortunately, the Portman Group is a gloomy gaggle of killjoy jobsworths, funded by navel-gazing international drinks giants. Their raison d’être is to provide a diversion for the true evils of this industry, perpetrated by the gigantic faceless brands that pay their wages. Blinkered by this soulless mission, they treat beer drinkers like brain dead zombies and vilify creativity and competition. Therefore, we have never given a second thought to any of the grubby newspeak they disseminate periodically.
'Salty tear'
“While the Portman Group lives out its days deliberating whether a joke on a bottle of beer is responsible or irresponsible use of humour, at BrewDog we will just get on with brewing awesome beer and treating our customers like adults. I’m sure that makes Henry Ashworth cry a salty tear into his shatterproof tankard of Directors as he tries to enforce his futile and toothless little marketing code, but we couldn’t give a shit about that, either.”
“We sincerely hope that the sarcasm of this message fits the Portman Group criteria of responsible use of humour,” he added.
Clash
The Portman Group has ruled that the Dead Pony Club pale ale packaging contravened rules for encouraging both anti-social behaviour and rapid drinking.
No complaints had been received about the drink but it was investigated as part of an independent audit of drinks undertaken by research firm Campden BRI on behalf of the body.
This is not the first time Brewdog and The Portman Group have clashed.
During an ongoing spat in 2009 over its Riptide, Punk IPA, Hop Rocker and Tokyo Stout Brewdog launched Speedball, a beer named after the mix of cocaine and heroin that killed John Belushi and River Phoenix, to deliberately provoke the body into further action.
