BrewDog has defended its decision to screen the FIFA World Cup in its bars after launching an advertising campaign criticising the sporting event. Earlier this week, the brewer said that they're a proud 'anti-sponsor', and referred to the competition as the 'World F*Cup'.
Billboards, which have gone up, compared the decision to let Qatar host the World Cup as the same as letting it take place is Russia or North Korea. The advert also stated that they would be donating all profits made from Lost Lager sold during the World Cup to causes fighting human rights abuses.
A longer statement on Twitter made reference to the accusations of corruption surrounding the event. The statement read: "Football's been dragged through the mud, before a single ball's been kicked. Let's be honest: Qatar won it through bribery. On an industrial scale.
Read more: Trafford Centre to host FREE outdoor screenings in its World Cup ‘Fanzone’
"That's why we're kicking off. And we're putting our money where our mouth is, with all the profits from our Lost Lager sold during the tournament going to fight human rights causes."
However, many on the platform were quick to question why the brewer would still show the tournament in their bars. One person wrote: "They're still showing the World Cup in their pubs though", while another wrote, "Qatar sucks but come watch it in our pubs and give us money anyway. Radical dudes".
Defending the decision to still show matches in their bars, BrewDog CEO, James Watt, wrote on LinkedIn: "There aren’t many businesses of BrewDog’s size and scale who will take a stance like we have this week. In my view, taking a stand is always better than not saying anything, even when that means your position might be criticised by a minority.
"There has been a lot of discussion around the fact that we are showing the games in our bars. We thought long and hard about this.
"But ultimately decided to do so for two reasons: Firstly, we all love craft beer and love football. We truly feel we shouldn’t deny our loyal customers the chance to enjoy them together just because FIFA bizarrely chose to award the world cup to Qatar in very questionable circumstances.
"Secondly, all profits from Lost Lager sold during the tournament will be donated to human rights charities. The truth is, we will raise more money to do good if we show the matches in our bars.
"People are still going to watch the games - so giving them the opportunity to watch the games both to raise awareness and raise money to drive positive change at the same time is worthwhile. To be very clear, in doing so we aren’t supporting FIFA or Qatar’s human rights track record, we are supporting those that love the game and hate to see it dragged through the mud like this."
Others on social media pointed to the fact that BrewDog also sells its beers in Qatar: "That's pretty rich considering you can buy BrewDog in Qatar." Another added: "Still happy enough to sell your beer in Qatar though. It's almost like this is just another hollow publicity stunt where you can try to co-opt genuine social causes for your own commercial gain. Shocking!"
Another Twitter user also offered the beer brand a solution: "I’m literally the most gullible consumer in the world, but even I can see this for the performative nonsense it is. Either donate all your profits from every beer sold while a match is being shown, or don’t show the games. Otherwise it’s just virtue signalling."
BrewDog was founded in 2007 and operates over 100 bars worldwide. It currently has three sites in Manchester including a hotel.
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