People Start Calling Out This Multinational Brewery For Stealing Their Marketing Ideas Through Fake Job Interviews (Updated With Comment From Brewdog)
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – but straight up stealing, on the other hand, is wrong – and with everyone on the hunt for the next big idea, people are learning just how easy it is for their intellectual and creative property to get snatched. We’ve seen this form of cheating countless times in the fashion industry, designers poaching the ideas of unknown creatives, and now people have accused a company in the brewing industry of following the trend. BrewDog is a $2 billion company that began as a small hipster passion project but has become one of the fastest-growing food and drinks producers in Great Britain and now they have been accused of stealing marketing strategies through fake job interviews with professionals.
Billion dollar Scottish beer company BrewDog has been under fire for allegedly stealing marketing ideas through fake interviews
Image credits: BrewDogJames
Trouble began to brew after the company released its non-alcoholic Punk IPA, which Manifest marketing agency boss Alex Myers said on Twitter was their creative concept
Image credits: AlexMyers
BrewDog founder James Watt responded to the tweet writing, “Hey Alex! Manifest, did the work on left for us (whilst under retainer), we did the work on the right with a different agency. Not really the same.” Myers continued to back his claim to PRWeek and said BrewDog had rejected the ‘Punk AF strategic marketing idea.’ “There’s no animosity from my perspective with BrewDog, but at the same time I feel it is important that the leaders of our businesses in our industry don’t fall silent when creative marketing campaign ideas are being used without credit,” Myers told the outlet, “At the end of the day creative is our currency. It wasn’t an emotional angry thing from my point of view – I was expecting it – it was more about pointing it out. There needs to be that radical candor.”
The complaint from Manifest was only the start of the claims and other people began to chime in with their own similar experiences from BrewDog
Image credits: jennyfrankart
Image credits: jennyfrankart
Image credits: jennyfrankart
Some described bids for job interviews where none of the companies got the job and BrewDog just took the ideas
Image credits: tommortonjarvis
Image credits: wybe
Image credits: andsmithdesign
One of the strategists posted a sample of what they say was the interview process form
Image credits: jennyfrankart
Along with communication between her and the company where they denied her claims
Image credits: jennyfrankart
And more screenshots were posted
Image credits: jennyfrankart
One of the owners of BrewDog dismissed the claims with a post of the invoice and wrote it off as words from an unsuccessful candidate
Image credits: : BrewDogJames
To which she responded with, what appeared to be, an uncropped version of the same document
Image credits: jennyfrankart
In response to the numerous allegations the company shared the following statement with Bored Panda:
“Over the last couple of days, social media has gone a bit wild over a couple of disconnected incidents, both of which have morphed into much wider debates beyond our business.
Firstly, we worked together with Manifest for several years right from the early days. We have now talked about the matter amicably and I am pleased that there is no longer any issue here.
Secondly, we have honored our commitment to refund the cost of flights for a candidate we interviewed for a role but we remain steadfast in our position that we do not pay job applicants for their time whilst they apply for a job at our business.
Hopefully, everyone can now get back to watching cat memes on social media. And we’ll get back to making world-class craft beers.
James Watt, Co-Founder and Captain, BrewDog.”
People in the comments continued to share mixed sentiments on the brewery
Idea-mining is not the only creative hot water the company has found itself in. In the past two years, BrewDog has been embroiled in multiple trademark disputes. The company went after brother-and-sister pub owners, Joshua and Sallie McFadyen, who run the Wolf pub in Birmingham, over their original plan to name the place the Lone Wolf. The corporation then gave them a legal warning on the grounds that they had a beer with the same name. After ample backlash, BrewDog eventually backed down. In 2017 they threatened another lawsuit against music promoter Tony Green, who wanted to open a bar in Leeds called Draft Punk – a nod to the band. In the letter, seen by the Guardian, BrewDog stated that it had “well-established beer under the name of punk”, the company’s Punk IPA beer, which it has been brewing since 2007 and mentioned its “Equity for Punks” scheme. A disappointed Green eventually decided to back down.
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Share on FacebookThey sell this in my workplace. Never really thought much about it since I can't drink, but if they're this scummy maybe I should bring it up with management.
There's no better way of protesting a company like this than to affect their sales. Go for it. Worst they can say is no.
Load More Replies...The same people that submitted idea's and concepts to help this shady firm could also start campaigns to harm it. If they all unite and use the power of social media they could really strike a blow. In the Netherlands 1 stand up comedian made a joke about some alcohol free beer and that destroyed that beer. A few years later you couldn't buy it anymore. Despite costly campaigns from the brewery, noone dared to buy it.
Jeez, what was the joke? Comedians have been ribbing Natural Ice and Bud / Miller Lite for forever and people still drink that pisswater.
Load More Replies...I really don’t like beer, never have, but living in Scotland for the last year, where BrewDog is everywhere I discovered I did like one of their IPAs. Guess I’ll go back to sticking to whisky again
I'm a hardcore capitalist but goddamn are these guys pricks. It may (or may not) be perfectly legal, but for billion dollar companies to do this, knowing the individual victims have next to no recourse makes me sick. It's a******s like this that make people hate corporations. Sometimes a small company about to go bankrupt has to make morally questionable choices just to survive because they'd rather live with the guilt than lose everything, but there's absolutely no reason for s**t like this. F**k these guys. Claiming Daft Punk is about them? Get over yourselves.
It’s like that episode of The Office when they were hiring a new manager and Will Arnett was interviewed and wouldn’t share his marketing strategy because he was afraid Dunder Mifflin would steal it. Turns out companies really do that. I wonder if the CEO of this s****y brewery saw that episode.
It's not just Brewdog. I went for a job interview (graphic design) a few years ago at an IT company. Part of the interview process was to create a bunch of buttons for a web page. I later learned that they'd used the buttons on their site. To be fair they did hire me in the end, but never mentioned use of the buttons (I found out via one of the developers)
Very shady indeed. If I were you, I'd be out finding another job and telling those yahoo's to suck it.
Load More Replies...As a freelance designer and marketer I used to run into this issue all the time. It sucks to have to train yourself to dodge ANY interview/preliminary questions which could lead to them poaching your ideas. The same is often true of people conducting market research - if they ask for your ideas, they aren't just wondering how smart you are. They're going to steal them.
Good rule of thumb, and an awfully s****y way for freelancers, and others, to have to conduct business.
Load More Replies...I hope all these people who were cheated on by this rudest company ever, come together and sue the jerks.
Omfg. As a Scot who has always supported the likes of Brewdog, this really disappoints me. Surely too fu**ing big now! Will defo be avoiding their pubs in Scotland and will be passing this sh*tfest onto fellow beer drinkers. Not OK!
Thank you for doing what you can! It takes a village to stop the pillaging.
Load More Replies...They used actors (including me) for their Brewdog AGM in 2018..and we were foretold we were getting paid in Brew Dog dollars....which you can only use in their venues.....I couldn't use them as I don't like their product....but I have nothing against them....until your start finding out the same ..even this year....trying to get the Sheeple to promote their stuff for free....I may be a jobbing actor...but I still need to get paid....I don't want free beer.....I want to be able to afford to live off the talent that I am gave them for free,,,
"Hopefully, everyone can now get back to watching cat memes on social media. And we’ll get back to making world class craft beers. James Watt, Co-Founder and Captain, BrewDog.” Well, f@ck you too
THIS has happened to me countless times with other companies. Creativity is currency. Be sure to stand your ground and get reimbursed for your efforts. Send them a bill AFTER they rescind their offer. If they fail to pay, take them to court. I’m doing this now because I’m f*****g fed up with theft. It’s criminal behavior at its finest.
The worst part is these people were not given an offer - just strung along long enough until their ideas were milked and bilked. brewdog is the lowest of the low and I hope they sink.
Load More Replies...Sounds like something Trump would do. Ask people to work, promise to pay them and then screw them over.
A coworker of mine took a real estate "course" he promoted, spent a couple of grand on it (that I doubt she had to spare) with nothing usable to show for it
Load More Replies...Their response, now posted, basically says "Too bad, so sad, go f#ck yourselves.. And continue to drink our beer."
Load More Replies...I do not drink beer, but "Hopefully, everyone can now get back to watching cat memes on social media. And we’ll get back to making world class craft beers." that was just so telling as a company I would never support, how rude, to come back with the attitude that everyone following along was somehow mindless. As far as the shareholder in here commenting all over the place, firstly if you are going to demand someone fill in their profile to show their credibility, may want to fill in your own first. Secondly any company that adds AF to the end of any word is just boring and trying too hard to be relevant in a way that is cringe worthy. I may swear more than the next person, but having a company do so even under the guise of using AF instead of the proper words just reeks disrespectful to me. Also how exactly is one Punk AF, is there a sliding scale on punkness ? I would imagine you are either Punk or you are not, are there weekend only punks, punks that wear tweed to the office ?
This is why you need a contract that you enforce with legal action. It seems twitter was seen as the professional solution :-/
Suzanne Kelly should learn to follow up when a story prints the response from "Shady AF, aka Brewdog".
Happens often in industry. When I was asked for a marketing plan, etc... I withdrew my application, well, by way of ghosting a very large employer, because I didn't want to be part of any company that did this sort of thing. Those at BD appear to be young snots who think they are being clever, but I hope to see them fail soon under the weight of lawsuits.
I have read all the replies none of them belongs to Brewdog. What do they say about this allegation?
I don't get the anti-establishment or is that just more blurb to get punters thinking there's something different going on. I live 2 mins from one of their bars and they're no different to anyone else on the high street..... But maybe I'm just too jaded by advertisers trying to ram their c**p down my throat that I'm oblivious to it now, it's like white noise in the background to me.
They sell this in my workplace. Never really thought much about it since I can't drink, but if they're this scummy maybe I should bring it up with management.
There's no better way of protesting a company like this than to affect their sales. Go for it. Worst they can say is no.
Load More Replies...The same people that submitted idea's and concepts to help this shady firm could also start campaigns to harm it. If they all unite and use the power of social media they could really strike a blow. In the Netherlands 1 stand up comedian made a joke about some alcohol free beer and that destroyed that beer. A few years later you couldn't buy it anymore. Despite costly campaigns from the brewery, noone dared to buy it.
Jeez, what was the joke? Comedians have been ribbing Natural Ice and Bud / Miller Lite for forever and people still drink that pisswater.
Load More Replies...I really don’t like beer, never have, but living in Scotland for the last year, where BrewDog is everywhere I discovered I did like one of their IPAs. Guess I’ll go back to sticking to whisky again
I'm a hardcore capitalist but goddamn are these guys pricks. It may (or may not) be perfectly legal, but for billion dollar companies to do this, knowing the individual victims have next to no recourse makes me sick. It's a******s like this that make people hate corporations. Sometimes a small company about to go bankrupt has to make morally questionable choices just to survive because they'd rather live with the guilt than lose everything, but there's absolutely no reason for s**t like this. F**k these guys. Claiming Daft Punk is about them? Get over yourselves.
It’s like that episode of The Office when they were hiring a new manager and Will Arnett was interviewed and wouldn’t share his marketing strategy because he was afraid Dunder Mifflin would steal it. Turns out companies really do that. I wonder if the CEO of this s****y brewery saw that episode.
It's not just Brewdog. I went for a job interview (graphic design) a few years ago at an IT company. Part of the interview process was to create a bunch of buttons for a web page. I later learned that they'd used the buttons on their site. To be fair they did hire me in the end, but never mentioned use of the buttons (I found out via one of the developers)
Very shady indeed. If I were you, I'd be out finding another job and telling those yahoo's to suck it.
Load More Replies...As a freelance designer and marketer I used to run into this issue all the time. It sucks to have to train yourself to dodge ANY interview/preliminary questions which could lead to them poaching your ideas. The same is often true of people conducting market research - if they ask for your ideas, they aren't just wondering how smart you are. They're going to steal them.
Good rule of thumb, and an awfully s****y way for freelancers, and others, to have to conduct business.
Load More Replies...I hope all these people who were cheated on by this rudest company ever, come together and sue the jerks.
Omfg. As a Scot who has always supported the likes of Brewdog, this really disappoints me. Surely too fu**ing big now! Will defo be avoiding their pubs in Scotland and will be passing this sh*tfest onto fellow beer drinkers. Not OK!
Thank you for doing what you can! It takes a village to stop the pillaging.
Load More Replies...They used actors (including me) for their Brewdog AGM in 2018..and we were foretold we were getting paid in Brew Dog dollars....which you can only use in their venues.....I couldn't use them as I don't like their product....but I have nothing against them....until your start finding out the same ..even this year....trying to get the Sheeple to promote their stuff for free....I may be a jobbing actor...but I still need to get paid....I don't want free beer.....I want to be able to afford to live off the talent that I am gave them for free,,,
"Hopefully, everyone can now get back to watching cat memes on social media. And we’ll get back to making world class craft beers. James Watt, Co-Founder and Captain, BrewDog.” Well, f@ck you too
THIS has happened to me countless times with other companies. Creativity is currency. Be sure to stand your ground and get reimbursed for your efforts. Send them a bill AFTER they rescind their offer. If they fail to pay, take them to court. I’m doing this now because I’m f*****g fed up with theft. It’s criminal behavior at its finest.
The worst part is these people were not given an offer - just strung along long enough until their ideas were milked and bilked. brewdog is the lowest of the low and I hope they sink.
Load More Replies...Sounds like something Trump would do. Ask people to work, promise to pay them and then screw them over.
A coworker of mine took a real estate "course" he promoted, spent a couple of grand on it (that I doubt she had to spare) with nothing usable to show for it
Load More Replies...Their response, now posted, basically says "Too bad, so sad, go f#ck yourselves.. And continue to drink our beer."
Load More Replies...I do not drink beer, but "Hopefully, everyone can now get back to watching cat memes on social media. And we’ll get back to making world class craft beers." that was just so telling as a company I would never support, how rude, to come back with the attitude that everyone following along was somehow mindless. As far as the shareholder in here commenting all over the place, firstly if you are going to demand someone fill in their profile to show their credibility, may want to fill in your own first. Secondly any company that adds AF to the end of any word is just boring and trying too hard to be relevant in a way that is cringe worthy. I may swear more than the next person, but having a company do so even under the guise of using AF instead of the proper words just reeks disrespectful to me. Also how exactly is one Punk AF, is there a sliding scale on punkness ? I would imagine you are either Punk or you are not, are there weekend only punks, punks that wear tweed to the office ?
This is why you need a contract that you enforce with legal action. It seems twitter was seen as the professional solution :-/
Suzanne Kelly should learn to follow up when a story prints the response from "Shady AF, aka Brewdog".
Happens often in industry. When I was asked for a marketing plan, etc... I withdrew my application, well, by way of ghosting a very large employer, because I didn't want to be part of any company that did this sort of thing. Those at BD appear to be young snots who think they are being clever, but I hope to see them fail soon under the weight of lawsuits.
I have read all the replies none of them belongs to Brewdog. What do they say about this allegation?
I don't get the anti-establishment or is that just more blurb to get punters thinking there's something different going on. I live 2 mins from one of their bars and they're no different to anyone else on the high street..... But maybe I'm just too jaded by advertisers trying to ram their c**p down my throat that I'm oblivious to it now, it's like white noise in the background to me.
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