The Artist formerly known as Speedball.....
23.01.2009
A death in the BrewDog family, one of our star pups impounded, a killer beer vanishing like a glorious martyr. The kaleidoscope of beer purchasing contingencies just became a little more jaded in a Portman Group induced totalitarian utopia.
David Poley (Chief Executive of the Portman Group) said:
"BrewDog is profiteering from the scourge of illegal drugs, mocking the misery caused by misuse"
Presumably in exactly the same way which McDonalds are ‘profiteering from the scourge of illegal drugs' by selling Hash Browns. At no point have we attempted to ‘profiteer from the scourge of illegal drugs'; the name merely hints at the mixture of unusual ingredients the beer has and is an edgy and provocative reference to its inspiration. To date we have sold 1184 bottles of Speedball in the UK, the vast majority of these over our website. Society and language in general is littered with references to various activities and this is not concrete enough to prevent the terms from being used. Perhaps it might even highlight these issues and prevent them. If people are going to abuse drugs or alcohol the causes are far deeper rooted and not nearly as superficial as product names.
Alcohol is also a drug, and it is a drug which causes far more problems in our society than the illegal drugs which Mr Portman talks so provocatively of. The ridiculous pricing of mass produced beers causes far more misery and leads to far more misuse in this country than any illegal drug. This is an area where the Portman Group should be focussing its attention if it wants to make a genuine difference.
Interestingly in my last correspondence to the Portman Group I enquired as to how the Carling advertising campaign ‘Belong' did not breach article 3.2e of the code "suggest that consumption will lead to increased popularity'. David Poley responded by saying "Advertising on TV, press and poster is regulated not by us but by the Adverting Standards Authority. You should therefore address your complaint to them."
However on their website it states: "Our role is to encourage and challenge producers to promote their products responsibly."
Even their code is entitled : "Code of practise on the naming, packaging and promotion of alcoholic drinks". Furthermore 1.1 of the code states "The code seeks to ensure alcohol is promoted in a socially responsible manner"
Speedball is not a cool beer, it is a dead beer. You may think it is cool but this is merely a beautiful lie fabricated by clowns and gypsies.
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