{"id":893,"date":"2017-05-01T05:49:51","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T05:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/bscbusinessmanagement\/?p=893"},"modified":"2017-04-25T05:58:32","modified_gmt":"2017-04-25T05:58:32","slug":"punked-upstart-brewing-company-sold-sold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/bscbusinessmanagement\/from-the-web\/2017\/05\/punked-upstart-brewing-company-sold-sold\/","title":{"rendered":"Punked? How an Upstart Brewing Company Sold Up and Sold Out"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Justin Green\/Flickr<\/a>, CC BY-NC-SA<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Scott Taylor<\/a>, University of Birmingham<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Want to be a multi-millionaire? Well then, start a \u201crebel business\u201d, generate brand controversy \u2013 and then sell it to the capitalists you appeared to despise. That\u2019s one way to do it.<\/p>\n

Scottish multinational brewery, distiller and bar chain BrewDog is the most recent version of this story. It has attracted a lot of attention recently. First, the firm blamed \u201ctrigger-happy\u201d corporate lawyers for sending out \u201ccease and desist\u201d letters<\/a> to small independent bars to protect its trademarking. Now the co-founders have announced they have sold 22% of the company<\/a> to a US private equity firm, valuing BrewDog at a surprising \u00a31 billion<\/a>. The two founders are now reported to be around \u00a3100m better off between them.<\/p>\n

There are two stories here. One is about remarkable growth and success selling interesting products. That should be celebrated for job creation, promotion of different beers and spirits \u2013 and for provoking a sense of fun while challenging the dysfunctions of contemporary capitalism. But there\u2019s also another story, that feels less good. It is a tale of a company which carefully identifies ways to generate publicity, no matter how offensive (a beer called \u201cTrashy Blonde\u201d, anyone?) \u2013 and which attracts some hard questions<\/a> about corporate culture which don\u2019t suggest a rebellious workplace encouraging freedom of thought. And in the final chapter, there is a rapid move from challenging capitalism to embodying it. It\u2019s not easy trading on rebellion.<\/p>\n

Monetised, not televised<\/h2>\n

But rebellion sells. Since the 1950s, when Hollywood filmmakers realised that young people would pay to get into cinemas to find out more about the Californian youth culture that surrounded Los Angeles, capitalists have been making money out of rebellion. North American cultural commentator Thomas Frank<\/a> provided an early account<\/a> of \u201cthe conquest of cool\u201d, noting how Gil Scott Heron\u2019s raw, angry, anti-capitalist poem\/song The Revolution Will Not Be Televised became central to a Nike advertising campaign.<\/p>\n