The cans will, once again, be hidden within cases of beer but the Ellon-based brewer and bar operator has gone out of its way to state the cans are not solid gold and those lucky enough to find one will also be able to claim £5,000 cash too.
The launch of the initiative is the third time BrewDog has run it but chief executive James Watt has been careful not to make rash statements about the cans being solid gold after paying almost £500,000 out to compensate winners last time to save the company from taking the cash hit.
BrewDog has launched two YouTube adverts for the giveaway with one showing staff at BrewDog falling over gold cans at its head office with one member of staff joking in despair: “These f**king gold cans… ”
Meanwhile, Watt is shown later in the video saying: “Guys, we’ve got to do something with these, something like a gold can giveaway but, obviously, we can’t do that again… ”
At it again
The other video shows a mock ‘breaking news’ clip that states: “BrewDog are at it again. Back in 2020, they shockingly and shamelessly ripped off an idea from beloved children’s book character Willy Wonka by placing 50 gold cans inside packs sold on their online store.”
It continued: “After a misunderstanding in advertising, customers were outraged to find the gold cans were only gold-plated the media was thrown into frenzy.
“Watt was left with a, not inconsiderable, half a million pound-sized hole in his pocket. Still, he clearly enjoyed spending a fortune to become the world’s number 1 collector of his own gold-plated cans.”
Crystal clear
Watt said of the new campaign: “Given that our previous gold can competitions were such plain sailing, it was the logical next step to do it all over again. That, and the fact that we had too many of these cans taking up space in the office.
“This time around, though, I’m keen to avoid forking out another half a million quid, so I’ll say it loud for the people at the back: these cans are gold plated, not solid gold! I hope that’s crystal clear. Disclaimer: there are no crystals available in these cans either.”
In January, Watt admitted he made misleading claims about the previous campaign and said at the time: “A simple misunderstanding born from my excessive enthusiasm about the campaign launch morphed into a frenzy, with attacks coming in from all quarters.
“I should have been more careful. I should have checked things before I got carried away. But it was too late.”
