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

[ViolentPanda]

What's the point of that? It's not 50% vegan, it's a burger with less meat in it. And those green buns look rank.

Fucking brewdog.

Back in the day, the use of soy products and rusk to bulk out burgers used to be hidden. Now these wankshafts are making a PR virtue out of it!

 

[ViolentPanda]

James Brown, retail director at BrewDog told Metro.co.uk: ‘Across our bars we’ve seen a growing demand for alternative proteins, and we already stock vegan friendly options – but some of our customers are still unsure about taking the leap into 100% non-animal based proteins. ‘Our HYBRID burger was developed to meet our sceptics in the middle between beef and Beyond Meat. Hopefully converting more people towards a flexitarian diet in the future.’

In what way is there anything to object to this as a goal, given that they already offer two other purely vegan burgers in any case? Why is that a 'gimmick'? Read what they said very carefully...

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Why are people getting so upset about this? Presumably because we 'hate' Brewdog and so we can't admit that they have done something potentially positive (see my earlier post about being vegan curious).

What harm is this causing - genuine question?

It's the start of a slippery slope, you mark my words. They'll start off by nicking half the beef out of your burger, and before you know it, your hot dog is a carrot, and your steak is a large piece of industrially-grown fungus.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I Think given Brewdog's track record of marketing and gimmicks, this is not a serious attempt to get anyone to eat less meet. It's a marketing gimmick, as shown by the green bun. Who puts matcha tea powder in a burger bun ffs?

Well late for catching the St. Paddy's Day market, too!

 

[ViolentPanda]

Fucking hell thats a desperate post.

Seems quite sensible to me. A green bun would put me right off, especially a tea-flavoured green bun.
And why the fucking fuck is there rosti in the burger? I want chips with it, not wodge of fried potato gratin IN the bloody thing!

 

[alex_]

It's the start of a slippery slope, you mark my words. They'll start off by nicking half the beef out of your burger, and before you know it, your hot dog is a carrot, and your steak is a large piece of industrially-grown fungus.

And your beer will be 95% water !

 

[MickiQ]

Seems quite sensible to me. A green bun would put me right off, especially a tea-flavoured green bun.
And why the fucking fuck is there rosti in the burger? I want chips with it, not wodge of fried potato gratin IN the bloody thing!

Clearly a man with taste

 

[Gaia]

Try the chorizo hotdogs, they're ace. I've got a craving for one now.

I quite like the bars too. Original and different.

Now I have too, but without the bun (that said I've not really been able to eat owt spicy since I've been ill either). My occasional treat (because they were very expensive) was peri-peri droewors from Raging Bull Meats which had a shop on the Finchley Road for about 4 years (his business model was shite - he insisted on importing all his meat from South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe because he didn't believe British beef was 'authentic' enough). Did many kinds of biltong too (the ostrich was very tasty).

I reckon if he'd not been so snobbish about the meat, he'd still be in business (there was a butcher's in GX which did biltong, made by a genuine South African but they used British meat).

 

[discobastard]

Why? What offends you so much about it? Or are you just looking to have a go at me too?

I’m having a go, yes. At your argument. I don’t wish you personally any ill will as I’ve never met you and you may well be lovely company.

But your words sound like a desperate attempt to claw back any credibility on the argument.

‘Ok I can’t argue against the clear aims and potential benefits of offering a half vegan, half meat meal so I’m gonna hate on the green bun instead and say they’re pathetic because we hate Brewdog’.

That doesn’t work for me as an argument. And please google matcha buns. It is a thing. And a very old thing.

It’s ok to admit that it might not be quite as much of an atrocity as you have previously made out. Lots of businesses sell lots of things, and I’m sure you buy many of them. But to be quite so angry about this seems a bit odd given the context.

At the same time I don’t deny you the right to interpret it in an extreme and narrow minded way. It doesn’t affect my life, and I wish you well.

 

[Proper Tidy]

a half vegan, half meat meal

Meat and two veg

 

[equationgirl]

I’m having a go, yes. At your argument. I don’t wish you personally any ill will as I’ve never met you and you may well be lovely company.

But your words sound like a desperate attempt to claw back any credibility on the argument.

‘Ok I can’t argue against the clear aims and potential benefits of offering a half vegan, half meat meal so I’m gonna hate on the green bun instead and say they’re pathetic because we hate Brewdog’.

That doesn’t work for me as an argument. And please google matcha buns. It is a thing. And a very old thing.

It’s ok to admit that it might not be quite as much of an atrocity as you have previously made out. Lots of businesses sell lots of things, and I’m sure you buy many of them. But to be quite so angry about this seems a bit odd given the context.

At the same time I don’t deny you the right to interpret it in an extreme and narrow minded way. It doesn’t affect my life, and I wish you well.

I'm not angry. I've made it clear that I think this is yet another crap marketing gimmick by brewdog, riding on the coat tails of the rising popularity of veganism.

If they were really keen for people to enjoy a vegan burger with their beer, they would make one that was actually vegan and decent to eat. Not all the beers are vegan either.

I'm not a fan of Brewdog, they got taken to employment tribunal for refusing to comply with the provisions of the equality act 2010 for one of their workers with disabilities. I think they're a terrible company.

Nor have I used words like atrocity to describe them. Seems to me it's you getting a bit hit under the collar because I've had the temerity to express an opinion that's aat odd with yours.

Why aren't you having a go at skyscraper101? They first described the burger as 50% vegan - as is the Independent now too.

 

[skyscraper101]

Why aren't you having a go at skyscraper101? They first described the burger as 50% vegan - as is the Independent now too.

TBH I was just quoting from somewhere else. I have no strong feelings on the matter.

Except that Brewdog are cunts. Obvs.

 

[equationgirl]

TBH I was just quoting from somewhere else. I have no strong feelings on the matter.

Except that Brewdog are cunts. Obvs.

Yeah, but I'm the one getting all the grief for it for some reason...

 

[Combustible]

I don't care either way about Brewdog, but if you want to cut down on your environmental impact but still eat meat, a chicken burger would be a better option.

 

[Spymaster]

I don't care either way about Brewdog, but if you want to cut down on your environmental impact but still eat meat, a chicken burger would be a better option.

I’m not sure about that. Pretty much all chicken that you’re likely to find in a burger has been intensively farmed. So you have the environmental impact of that method of production plus the animal welfare issue which is pretty much as bad as it gets with intensively reared poultry.

 

[Combustible]

I’m not sure about that. Pretty much all chicken that you’re likely to find in a burger has been intensively farmed. So you have the environmental impact of that method of production plus the animal welfare issue which is pretty much as bad as it gets with intensively reared poultry.

I meant in terms of carbon emissions, the production of beef produces about 4x the CO2 per g of chicken, so a half-beef burger has a carbon footprint twice that of a similarly sized full chicken one (ignoring the carbon footprint of the meat substitute). In terms of animal welfare, there is no reason why you would need to use factory or intensively farmed chicken to make a burger, I have no idea if Brewdog do or not.

 

[Callie]

If they were really keen for people to enjoy a vegan burger with their beer, they would make one that was actually vegan and decent to eat. Not all the beers are vegan either.

Half their menu is veggie with another chunk of it also vegan. This isn't all that they offer. I think their menu actually offers quite a decent selection on that front. They also do something like an all you can eat wings day where you can have either chicken wings or cauliflower wings.

 

[Spymaster]

If they were really keen for people to enjoy a vegan burger with their beer, they would make one that was actually vegan and decent to eat.

They do.

I'm not a fan of Brewdog, they got taken to employment tribunal for refusing to comply with the provisions of the equality act 2010 for one of their workers with disabilities. I think they're a terrible company.

Not their finest hour but it's not as cut-and-dried as you spin it.

The employee worked on a packing line and got progressively blind due to Stargardt disease. The company offered him another job, as their health and safety officer felt it was becoming dangerous for him and his colleagues for an increasingly blind person to be on that particular operation. He turned down the other job so Brewdog consulted with the RNIB about what they could do to make things safer for him and those around him. Only after all that did they decide to let him go and got taken to the tribunal which was divided in opinion but found for the employee in a split decision (one of the 3 on the panel disagreed) and awarded him £12,000.

Yes, they probably could have done a bit better but it hardly makes them a terrible company. They acted out of genuine safety concerns but got it wrong. Whilst I was looking that up I also came across a couple of other employment tribunal claims againt them which were either unsuccessful or withdrawn.

 

[tommers]

cauliflower wings.

Sorry. But this makes me laugh. Is this lumps of cauliflower?

It's cos of that Keto diet. Cauliflower rice, cauliflower steak, cauliflower pizza. Those cauliflower farmers must be like "I never dreamed this day would come."

 

[Spymaster]

I meant in terms of carbon emissions, the production of beef produces about 4x the CO2 per g of chicken, so a half-beef burger has a carbon footprint twice that of a similarly sized full chicken one (ignoring the carbon footprint of the meat substitute). In terms of animal welfare, there is no reason why you would need to use factory or intensively farmed chicken to make a burger, I have no idea if Brewdog do or not.

The big chicken sellers like McDonalds and KFC use intensively farmed chicken although surprisingly McD's does have higher AW standards than many others. They've also looked into using free range poultry but the cost is SO much higher that the conclusion was that few would pay the extra although all their eggs are free range in the UK. If an outfit with the buying power of McD's can't do it profitably you'd have to question whether far smaller players could.

I take your point regarding carbon footprints.

 

[Callie]

Sorry. But this makes me laugh. Is this lumps of cauliflower?

It's cos of that Keto diet. Cauliflower rice, cauliflower steak, cauliflower pizza. Those cauliflower farmers must be like "I never dreamed this day would come."

I dunno if it's a keto thing but buffalo style cauliflower instead of chicken is definitely A THING. A few places do it. Not tried it myself but can see how chunks of cauli would work as a vessel for buffalo sauce and (I assume) a vegan blue cheese sauce substitute.

 

[tommers]

I dunno if it's a keto thing but buffalo style cauliflower instead of chicken is definitely A THING. A few places do it. Not tried it myself but can see how chunks of cauli would work as a vessel for buffalo sauce and (I assume) a vegan blue cheese sauce substitute.

I'm going to do some research to cheer up my Sunday morning.

 

[tommers]

When I say research I clearly mean "first Google result".

Baked Buffalo Cauliflower wings (Vegan Option)

Looks alright to be fair. Might try them.

 

[Spymaster]

Now I have too, but without the bun (that said I've not really been able to eat owt spicy since I've been ill either). My occasional treat (because they were very expensive) was peri-peri droewors from Raging Bull Meats which had a shop on the Finchley Road for about 4 years (his business model was shite - he insisted on importing all his meat from South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe because he didn't believe British beef was 'authentic' enough). Did many kinds of biltong too (the ostrich was very tasty).

I reckon if he'd not been so snobbish about the meat, he'd still be in business (there was a butcher's in GX which did biltong, made by a genuine South African but they used British meat).

I know (knew?) them well. Have they gone?

 

[Callie]

I'm going to do some research to cheer up my Sunday morning.

I thought this meant you were heading to the pub

 

[tommers]

I thought this meant you were heading to the pub

Haha. I'm still getting over last night's drinking. I'm not fancying a bloody brewdog.

 

[Proper Tidy]

Chicken wings are shit anyway, assume switching to cauliflower isn't a huge improvement

 

[Spymaster]

Chicken wings are shit anyway ...

I've never understood why pieces of chicken that are 2 thirds bone are so popular.

 

[Proper Tidy]

I've never understood why pieces of chicken that are 2 thirds bone are so popular.

I can understand why they are popular with restaurants and pubs tbf, cheap as fuck

 

[teuchter]

Now we're onto the middle class people of urban being snobby about chicken wings.

 

[Proper Tidy]

Now we're onto the middle class people of urban being snobby about chicken wings.

Are you a chicken wing man?