Scottish beer company Brewdog drummed up sales by promising that there were ten "solid gold" beer cans each worth £15,000 lurking in cases somewhere out there. After consulting jewellers, however, several "winners" found to their dismay that the cars are merely gold-plated and worth only £500, a thirtieth of what Brewdog claims. Brewdog says it "stands by the valuation" but has not, of course, offered to meet the valuation. The "winners" have complained to the U.K.'s advertising regulators.
The imbroglio brought more attention to the pub chain's flagging reputation:
Brewdog was founded in 2007 by boss James Watt and Martin Dickie. It has been attracting negative scrutiny in recent weeks after a letter from ex-workers was posted on Twitter which said a "significant number" of former staff had "suffered mental illness as a result of working at Brewdog". It made a number of allegations, including that Brewdog fostered a culture where staff were afraid to speak out about concerns. The company has promised an independent review of the beer firm and has apologised to staff for the "lot of pain" they have been caused.
