The BrewDog brewery took a serious stance against the Qatar-based Fifa World Cup 2022 in their latest advertising campaign, rolling out billboards across the UK.
“We’re proud to be launching BrewDog as an anti-sponsor of the World F*Cup. To be clear we love football, we just don’t love corruption and abuse. So join us. Let’s raise a glass to the players. To the fans. To free speech,” James Watt, the CEO of the independently owned Scottish craft brewery chain said, according to WalesOnline. Backlash against Qatar hosting the major soccer event has been intense, given the nation’s stance on homosexuality, which it punishes by flogging.
Pretty amazing ad by @BrewDog pic.twitter.com/HiNjSyfKxh
— Massimo Banzi (@mbanzi) November 7, 2022
Some 6,500 migrant workers have also died since Qatar won the bid to host the event, WalesOnline noted. BrewDog has therefore pledged to give all profits made between Nov. 20 to Dec. 18 from its Lost Lager to registered charities fighting the plethora of human rights abuses in Qatar. (RELATED: World Cup Chief For Qatar Says There Will Be Special Zones For Drunk Fans, And Gay People Can Hold Hands)
The out-of-home (OOH) ads were created by advertising giants, Saatchi & Saatchi UK, according to The Drum. They include phrases like “First Russia, then Qatar. Can’t wait for North Korea,” “The Beautiful Shames” and “Eat, Sleep, Bribe, Football.” Russia hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2018, Fortune noted.
“[T]his is a sizeable contradiction from BrewDog,” said New York marketing executive Andrew Cahill. “BrewDog will be showing the matches live on screens in venues and profiting from revenue generated from all food and drink, other than Lost Lager. Whoops.” British trade union Unite also criticized the company for being “one of the worst employers in the industry,” according to Fortune.