BrewDog jumps on Brexit bus bandwagon with a pints for voting promise
BrewDog is once again hovering the promise of beer in front of people to prevent them from abstaining in Thursday's (12 December) general election.
BrewDog offers to buy pints for voters
Branded on a bus - a tactic made infamous by the 2016 EU referendum campaign - the copy reads 'Vote Punk' alongside the offer of a free pint for anyone that votes.
This is a nod to the Brexit Bus that inaccurately claimed the UK sends over £350m to the EU which could be spent on the NHS, the BrewDog bus includes the disclaimer '*100% of the statement on this bus are accurate.' To receive the free pint, voters are asked to take selfies outside the polling station and then present this to staff in any of BrewDog's UK Bars.
‘We want to reward anyone voting in the General Election with a Punk IPA on us. Whatever your views, whatever your status, every vote was created equal," said James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog.
"We’re not affiliated with any political party, we don’t care who you vote for but we would like to buy you a beer. Whatever is next for our country, drinking great craft beer might just get us through it,’ he continued.
The self-styled 'punk' Scottish brewer started 'Vote Punk' back at the 2017 general election - something it called the 'world's first beer-fuelled election poll.' However, rather than placing a provocative bus placement, it took inspiration from the inaccuracy of official polls.
Hoping to predict the outcome, the brewer went out to the streets to ask the general public who will be getting their vote.
BrewDog is not the first brand to use a bus placement to wade into the 2019 general election debate. Earlier this month, a cheeky Burger King ad appeared on a red bus, that read 'another whopper on the side of a bus. Must be an election.'
Outside this election, the scandalous Brexit bus has set a trend, with daring brands emulating its execution. Earlier this year, Three plonked a branded bus outside Westminster to inform its customers that it will foot the bill for £187m worth of roaming charges if the nation does indeed leave the European Union.
In February, Radioactive PR ran a digital ad on the side of 45 London waste management vehicles that read 'Our PR campaigns get an AVE of £350m a week... some people will say anything to get the results they want... get in touch for PR results that aren't a load of bullshit.'
Back in January, Channel 4 jumped on the Brexit bus bandwagon to promote its series with Benedict Cumberbatch. Instead of 'take back control' the red bus read 'take back the remote control. Watch gripping new TV drama.'
And in 2017, the fintech startup Monese capitalised on the notoriety of the bus when it subverted the £350m offer with one of its own.
Greenpeace was one of the first to respond to Brexit bus, back in 2016, when it hijacked Vote Leave's old campaign bus - covering up the emblazoned claims the giant text that read 'Time for the Truth.'