Just wondering, I know they are historically shit and the open letter makes it clear that this is about years of toxic culture, but this bit…
"BrewDog - we’re sorry, but you don’t get to spend fourteen years exploiting social media’s lack of interest in nuance or truth, and then shit the bed when it comes back around on you. "
… has something happened recently that kicked all this off?
It’s coming to a head because of recent Me Too style movements in the brewing industry, social media accounts in the US and the UK began collating anonymous stories of harassment and abuse, often naming various employers, of which BrewDog is one of the most frequently named.
Just want to say massive well done to @blind_pilot, really brave and courageous thing you and former colleagues have done here and I hope you’re all proud and coping alright today!
Thanks. It has been a pretty wild day.
I hope the senior management at Brewdog are experiencing at least a fraction of the discomfort and pressure in their roles today that they inflicted on a huge number of their staff over years.
I also hope they genuinely take stock and make significant changes to the way they operate, and ideally remove from their positions those most culpable for cultivating that toxic environment in the first place. I won’t hold my breath though.
I’m proud to have put my name to the letter, but I’m sad that I had to. And I’m furious on behalf of the many, many others who were too intimidated to do so even now.
You’re going straight in the recycling, sunshine
Guardian taking the opportunity to expand their coverage to highlight some of Brewdog’s general shittyness.
Enjoyed this in the Twitter comments
TBH there’s a lager I’ve bought a few times not realising it’s a BrewDog because it’s not branded like the rest of them. Lots of these craft brands aren’t easy to tell apart if you’re not in the know.
Does anyone have a quick rule of thumb for which ‘supermarket’ beers are a more ethical purchase?
I found this looking at the environmental aspect:
Best: Carlsberg, Diageo (Guinness), Hepworth, Kirin, Stroud, Toast.
Middle: BrewDog, Black Isle, AB InBev, Mahou.
Worst: Little Valley, Samuel Smith, Marston’s, Fuller Smith & Turner, Molson Coors, Heineken, Asahi, Greene King, Freedom, Copper Tun (Nirvana), Brooklyn, Empress Ale (distributes CELIA).
Which I was a little surprised by.
Pretty sure Groschl and San Miguel are vegan.
They have since cut ties, but that was Feb this year, so they sat in this for a long time before making a decision
and in turn Magic Rock
And Fourpure
I’d get pedantic here and say no supermarket beer purchase is really “ethical” but I reminded myself to check my own privilege
I did not know this!
Wow. This story is really gathering steam. Well done all involved.
Sadly it’s never a surprise when a company known to ruthlessly expand as fast as possible is revealed as having a culture that’s unpleasant or abusive
See also: amazon
I mean it was always obvious that the venture capitalists weren’t chucking money at boodog because they thought craft beer was cool, they did it because they wanted large financial returns as fast as possible and they really didn’t give a shit about how that was achieved
