Diageo Evil? Redux

[Josh]

In spite of being the clear winner of BII's ‘Bar Operator of the Year’ award and even having their name on the trophy, the Brew Dog brewpub was passed over for the award as a direct result of pressure from Diageo.

http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article/diageo-v-brewdog

On Tuesday, 2 days after the award, I (James) took a phone call from Kenny Mitchell, Chairman of the BII in Scotland and Chairman of the Award Committee explaining the situation. To directly quote Kenny:

‘We are all ashamed and embarrassed about what happened. The awards have to be an independent process and BrewDog were the clear winner’

‘Diageo (the main sponsor) approached us at the start of the meal and said under no circumstances could the award be given to BrewDog. They said if this happened they would pull their sponsorship from all future BII events and their representatives would not present any of the awards on the evening.’

We were as gobsmacked as you by Diageo’s behaviour. We made the wrong decision under extreme pressure. We were blackmailed and bullied by Diageo. We should have stuck to our guns and gave the award to BrewDog.

‘

We would like to thank Kenny Mitchell and the BII for their refreshing honesty here and for initially giving the award to BrewDog before their overbearing and blackmailing sponsor undermined the independent judging process completely by bullying them at the last minute to deny BrewDog of an award they rightfully won.

An apology from Diageo is expected. This plus the NOM 186 controversy seem to be adding up to, at the very least, a really bad week for "the big galoot".

Any thoughts?

[Josh]

An apology has been issued:

A Diageo spokesperson: "There was a serious misjudgement by Diageo staff at the awards dinner on Sunday evening in relation to the Bar Operator of the Year Award, which does not reflect in anyway Diageo’s corporate values and behaviour.

We would like to apologise unreservedly to BrewDog and to the British Institute of Innkeeping for this error of judgement and we will be contacting both organisations imminently to express our regret for this unfortunate incident."

http://www.diageo.com/Lists/Resources/Attachments/1263/2012_BII_awards_statement_090512.pdf

[AaronWF]

...which does not reflect in any way Diageo's corporate values and behavior.

Too late.

It's a nice illustration of why the influence of money in politics does nothing but create a mafia state.

This kind of behavior is rife throughout industry in general. The hustle takes place whenever goods are created for consumption.

There's enough buying-off going on in spirits reviews and awards that this sort of thing doesn't surprise me in the least.

[mosugoji64]

So, are they granting the award to BrewDog or is an apology all they get?

[cowdery]

What was Diageo's objection to BrewDog? Not that anything would justify such an action, but the story is lacking without that information.

[Josh]

My guess is that b/c they make and only sell their own beer, they are an indenpent chain of pubs/bars and the Diageo people present objected to such an award being given to an independent. But that's only a guess. Maybe the BrewDog people had made enemies with people at Diageo somewhere along the way.

There is an article in the Financial Times on the topic today, but registration is required and it doesn't contain much new information. BrewDog owns seven bars thoughout Scotland and England.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/26dad662-99fd-11e1-aa6d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1uPHjip2L

[James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog] said the “only plausible conclusion” to explain the blocked prize was a vested interest in making sure small companies such as BrewDog were not successful. BrewDog brews craft ale and has seven of its own bars which do not serve non-craft beers such as Diageo’s Guinness.

[bad_scientist]

When I read crap like this, I wish I had the self-discipline to stop buying Lagavulin, Talisker, and Bulleit. But I don't.

[Bmac]

So, are they granting the award to BrewDog or is an apology all they get?

My thoughts exactly. Are hey going to retract the award and give it back to BD? If not then the apology is meaningless and it DOES reveal their business practice. Punch first, give apology later...while laughing. Diego has ruined a lot of spirit labels by cheapening production. This seems to elevate the fact that they suck B@!!$.

[Clavius]

When I read crap like this, I wish I had the self-discipline to stop buying Lagavulin, Talisker, and Bulleit. But I don't.

Mmmmmm, Lagavulin!

[Bourbon Boiler]

:horseshit: I vote evil.

[cowdery]

Well, evil and stupid so often go hand in hand. When they agreed to sponsor this award, didn't it dawn on anyone that this was a possible outcome?

[Bmac]

Well, evil and stupid so often go hand in hand. When they agreed to sponsor this award, didn't it dawn on anyone that this was a possible outcome?

[bad_scientist]

Well, evil and stupid so often go hand in hand. When they agreed to sponsor this award, didn't it dawn on anyone that this was a possible outcome?

[Josh]

Well, evil and stupid so often go hand in hand. When they agreed to sponsor this award, didn't it dawn on anyone that this was a possible outcome?

[weller_tex]

BTW, Diageo seems to have taken down that link to the PDF response. I'd love to ditch anything associated with them as well, but Talisker would be very painful to give up.

[Josh]

BTW, Diageo seems to have taken down that link to the PDF response. I'd love to ditch anything associated with them as well, but Talisker would be very painful to give up.

[weller_tex]

Here's a URL with the same message.

http://www.diageo.com/en-row/NewsMedia/Pages/resource.aspx?resourceid=1263

[cowdery]

Lunkheads though they clearly were, the Diageo staff on hand had enough authority to at least momentarily intimidate the officials representing the British Institute of Innkeeping, who deserve some kind of recognition for their impressive gutlessness. If ever there was a time when "Fuck you" should have issued involuntarily from someone's lips, this is it.

[wadewood]

Lunkheads though they clearly were, the Diageo staff on hand had enough authority to at least momentarily intimidate the officials representing the British Institute of Innkeeping, who deserve some kind of recognition for their impressive gutlessness. If ever there was a time when "Fuck you" should have issued involuntarily from someone's lips, this is it.

[weller_tex]

Lunkheads though they clearly were, the Diageo staff on hand had enough authority to at least momentarily intimidate the officials representing the British Institute of Innkeeping, who deserve some kind of recognition for their impressive gutlessness. If ever there was a time when "Fuck you" should have issued involuntarily from someone's lips, this is it.

Perfect! I come from the Single Malt world so I am very familiar with Diageo. Sums it up!

[ThomasH]

I wish Diageo would ditch S-W so someone with an actual brain could start it back up!

Thomas

[Bmac]

I wish Diageo would ditch S-W so someone with an actual brain could start it back up!

Thomas

[cowdery]

Here's a laugh. Diageo is now the victim.

Okay, so don't burn the guy at the stake. How about tar and feathers?

Just look at the guy in the picture. Isn't that a face begging to be punched?

[callmeox]

They are definitely circling the wagons over this. Portraying it as a mistake by an underling was a coy move...until word got out that the arm twisting was done by someone much higher.

I hope they keep getting battered, the dumbasses.

[TomH]

Brewdog is a definite winner.....they're getting much more notice and favorable attention than winning the award would have given them.