BrewDog responds to Aldi's uncanny 'anti-establishment' beer with 'Yaldi IPA'
You may not be anywhere near the office water cooler right now, but we still want to spotlight the must buzz-worthy creative from brands that should be on your radar. Today, we're exploring a recent banterous exchange between Aldi and BrewDog...
Is an IP/IPA war brewing between BrewDog and Aldi? Not quite, but after Aldi's own-brand beer became the talk of social media for bearing more than a passing resemblance to the brewer's Punk IPA range, BrewDog has struck back by introducing a new line dubbed 'Yaldi IPA'.
Since its humble beginnings in an Aberdeenshire garage in 2007, BrewDog has built up an unmistakable graphic identity for its ranges such as 'Elvis Juice,' 'Hazy Jane' and its latest 'Barnard Castle Eye Test', along with a self-styled reputation as the beer industry's punks. So when Aldi introduced the none-too-subtle 'Anti Establishment IPA,' Twitter users took great delight bringing it to BrewDog co-founder James Watt's attention.
Not only am I here for Aldi's 'Anti Establishment' Punk IPA rip off, it has almost the same rating at Untappd. https://t.co/UZ5l7FmGwQ
— Richard Littler (@richard_littler) August 19, 2020
Enter 'BrewDog Yaldi,' the cheeky brewer's 'new beer'. Clad in unmistakable Aldi-style branding, the jibe was announced on BrewDog's social channels yesterday (20 August). A translation for anyone who doesn't know: Yaldi is a Scottish slang used to express the purest joy. The social post read: "Inspired by Aldi's take on Punk IPA from yesterday (19 August), we are making a new beer. Yaldi IPA is coming soon! Maybe our friends Aldi UK will even sell it in their stores? #BrewDog.' After Aldi, masters of lookalike design after all, pointed out that 'ALD IPA' would have been a better name, the two parties now look on track to be forming an unlikely alliance.
Deal @AldiUK We have changed the name to ALD IPA & we will send a case your way. Looking forward to making this happen https://t.co/b4OvYnNwLV pic.twitter.com/1z0owyxnOn — James Watt (@BrewDogJames) August 21, 2020
The move follows BrewDog's response to Ricky Gervais' inadvertent endorsement of its brand during a live Q&A on Twitter, where he ranted about how much he despised celebrity endorsement before asking the brewer to donate the money to an animal charity instead.
Standard celeb endorsements tend to feel like disingenuous money grabs. But @rickygervais may just have came up with a whole new model here with @BrewDog Keeping it real with genuine endorsement whilst giving back to charity to make the world a better place. Cheers Ricky pic.twitter.com/hXXG69ZsvV — James Watt (@BrewDogJames) July 13, 2020
Of course, BrewDog had to respond to Gervais' musings, so it teamed up with UK dog charities, Dogs on the Streets and All Dogs Matter. Using the space on its iconic beer cans, the packaging will now showcase profiles of some of the charity's dogs on the hunt for their forever homes.