BrewDog: yet another hip company using 'rebel' language to sell its stuff

[Poot]

Maybe I was in a social situation where you had to be

Maybe you were in a gender where you had to be, too.

 

[danny la rouge]

I didn’t mean sexual exploitation in the music industry really. I meant just how shit was for your common or garden young woman back then. The every dayness. The Hello Boys.

It did seem a big backwards step from the “new man” thing of my day. I remember thinking at the time that the obsession the men in Friends had with strip clubs was embarrassing.

 

[chilango]

It did seem a big backwards step from the “new man” thing of my day. I remember thinking at the time that the obsession the men in Friends had with strip clubs was embarrassing.

Friends is pretty awful upon re-watching. The casual sexism and homophobia is really jarring now. It should have been then too.

 

[8ball]

Maybe you were in a gender where you had to be, too.

 

[danny la rouge]

Friends is pretty awful upon re-watching. The casual sexism and homophobia is really jarring now. It should have been then too.

It was.

 

[editor]

I'm not a member of the Growler Club. A growler would be rather more than I'd drink at home. I drink Brewdog, and enjoy most of it. I am a shareholder. But I've not hidden that.

And you don't feel even the slightest discomfort for investing in such a company? Or are you OK with the misogyny, the sexism and the bullying of staff because you like the brand and think it'll give you good value on your investment?

 

[PR1Berske]

I recommend Innes and Gunn.

{{citation needed}}

 

[belboid]

Fair enough - I was at Uni in Nottingham and mostly knocking about the punk and rock scene. I don’t think I even heard of Spearmint Rhino til many years later.

the first UK SR only opened in November 2000.

 

[Poot]

There are some things that women notice but men don't, mainly because they're not affected by them in the same way. So things I remember about lad culture from the 90s won't be things that men who may have been present will remember.

 

[8ball]

the first UK SR only opened in November 2000.

I never heard of the place til just a few years ago, I just had a vague sense of a late 90’s/noughties thing. Though obv there were lap dancing places before SN so I’m just conflating things somewhere.

 

[Steel Icarus]

4 pints is exactly the right amount for a school night

Fuck that. I have two and it's 50/50 if I'll have to shit at work.

 

[dessiato]

And you don't feel even the slightest discomfort for investing in such a company? Or are you OK with the misogyny, the sexism and the bullying of staff because you like the brand and think it'll give you good value on your investment?

None at all. The company is changing, and should be encouraged to continue to.

 

[keybored]

5.6% down to 5.2%.

Its a race to the bottom and any right minded tramp fuel aficionado should be very perturbed.

If you add some methylated spirit not only can you bring it back up to strength but you'll also notice an impressive taste improvement.

 

[AverageJoe]

I guess the bottom line is that Brewdog have managed to get 118 pages of free advertising on a site that doesn't do advertising.

So more fool us.

 

[8ball]

There are some things that women notice but men don't, mainly because they're not affected by them in the same way. So things I remember about lad culture from the 90s won't be things that men who may have been present will remember.

I remember lad culture being plenty annoying enough, but anyway, maybe post #3,500 will help you see why I found that post confusing.

 

[Sue]

I think your missus is older than me but this gave me flashbacks to the 90s when I was young and ladette culture reigned. As a young woman you had to pretend to be cool with topless models on walls of student rooms, wolf whistles, and lap dancing. I was dancing a bit in the early 2000s and you’d even get girls out with groups of men in clubs. That was excruciating. My mate (who was very beautiful and very clever) danced for Spearmint Rhino on TCR and there used to be corporate bookings that included women. The mind boggles really. Must of been awkward af for them. I’ve not been in a club for a long time now but I’d hope that’s changed.

A female friend was working in an IT role in the City mid-90s. The team Christmas do was at a strip club. My friend (the only women in the team were her and the team secretary) suggested they went somewhere else. They refused. She didn't go (the secretary did because she felt it was more than her job was worth to not turn up ) . She then got so much hassle for being a torn-faced, rabid feminist etc, she ended up leaving her job.

Late 90s, I was working in a technical job and half the team used to go to a strip joint at lunchtime and then spend the afternoon dissecting how old and ugly the strippers were. By the 2000s/2010s, people were a bit more discreet but still a lot of leaving drinks were held in strip joints. (A male colleague was actually greeted with incomprehension when he said he just planned on going to the pub. Obviously a poof eh?)

So as Edie (I think) said upthread, it's the constant drip drip drip of this stuff. And calling it out ends up with you being excluded, laughed at, slagged off, can make your working life completely unbearable. (And let's not even go into the physical sexual harassment, the stalking, all the other bullshit that is even now still not uncommon.)

The stuff on this thread may not be on that kind of level but for those of you who see this all as a big joke or people being oversensitive or whatever else, it's not. It's exhausting and isolating and never ending and utterly depressing. And I had hoped this was somewhere I could escape all that bullshit. But no, seems it's not.

Now, who's going to be the first to tell me I'm wrong, have misunderstood, it's only a joke, I'm blowing it out of all proportion, their wife is a big fan of Brewdog or whatever other minimising bullshit? Because that's exactly how this stuff works.

 

[Spymaster]

None at all. The company is changing, and should be encouraged to continue to.

Correct. There'll be something that upsets someone whoever you invest with. Brewdog are no worse than any number of outfits and far better than many. Is their marketing any worse than Apple's exploitation of the 3rd world, or Huawei's support of a government engaged in genocide? Of course not; but half of these wallies are typing on Macbooks, and using Huawei phones with their super-dooper cameras!

The only reason BD are getting flack here is bacause a couple of people took exception to PUNK!

 

[8ball]

This must have crossed the “most batshit thread on Urban ever” Rubicon by this point.

 

[maomao]

There’s a pub not very far from where I live called the Tap & Growler.

What would be the good people of Urban’s advice for dealing with such an establishment, which I am assured trades in broad daylight, as well as during night time hours?

Get pk on the case.

 

[danny la rouge]

The only reason BD are getting flack here is bacause a couple of people took exception to PUNK!

No, they’re getting flack because they’re an anti union, bullying workplace who chose a misogynistic double entendre marketing strategy.

 

[Poot]

I remember lad culture being plenty annoying enough, but anyway, maybe post #3,500 will help you see why I found that post confusing.

Yes, I read it. But as Sue points out, much of the culture for women in the 90s was about keeping quiet about things you found awkward and humiliating for fear of being labelled a killjoy. So my point stands, and I speak as an ex-ladette. Things aren't always as straightforward as 'they were fine with it.'

 

[8ball]

Get pk on the case.

Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a looong time…

<stares into middle distance>

 

[8ball]

Yes, I read it. But as Sue points out, much of the culture for women in the 90s was about keeping quiet about things you found awkward and humiliating for fear of being labelled a killjoy. So my point stands, and I speak as an ex-ladette. Things aren't always as straightforward as 'they were fine with it.'

Oh ffs.

I said they weren’t fine with it!

 

[Spymaster]

No, they’re getting flack because they’re an anti union, bullying workplace who chose a misogynistic double entendre marketing strategy.

No. They've been getting grief here far longer than growler has been an issue. We all pick our battles though, and if that's where people want to plant their flags, good luck to them. It's not hard to find an awful lot of hypocrisy knocking around though.

 

[Poot]

Oh ffs.

I said they weren’t fine with it!

Oh, sorry. I have Covid. I should probably back away before I confuse myself and everyone else further.

 

[chilango]

View attachment 305202

I'm sure we can crowbar some misogyny in there if we try really hard!!!

Sounds like you’ve found a problem that exists only in your mind.

“A growler (US) (/ˈɡraʊlər/) is a glass, ceramic, or stainless steel bottle (or jug) used to transport draft beer.[1]They are commonly sold at breweries and brewpubs as a means to sell take-out craft beer.”

I’d never heard it used that way and, prior to this, only knew it as a bottle size. Given the pic shows a growler bottle, to assume that it’s misogynistic seems to be finding a problem that doesn’t actually exist.

It's Broggers and EG, ffs. These two could find a way to take offence at a cotton bud!

Just in case they've forgotten. Here's Spy and Dess's initial reactions to the "genius marketing program"

 

[danny la rouge]

No. They've been getting grief here far longer than growler has been an issue. We all pick our battles though, and if that's where people want to plant their flags, good luck to them. It's not hard to find an awful lot of hypocrisy knocking around though.

I’ve known about the bullying long before the growler howler.

 

[8ball]

Oh, sorry. I have Covid. I should probably back away before I confuse myself and everyone else further.

Sorry, I’m being crabby, possibly in part due to whatever non-Covid nonsense I have (many negative LFTs of support etc.).

Hope you feel better soon.

 

[weepiper]

Brewdog have been using misogynist advertising for donkeys' years. Have we all forgotten about the Trashy Blonde label?

 

[Spymaster]

I’ve known about the bullying long before the growler howler.

Would you say that the bullying is fouler than the growler howler?