Soda Folk MD Simon Waterfall has taken to social media to accuse Brewdog of ‘trying to impersonate’ the logo, design and branding of the craft soda drink.
The up-and-coming soft drinks company had a ‘playful pop’ at what it believed to be craft beer brewer BrewDog’s plagiarism in a post on LinkedIn which subsequently went viral.
According to Soda Folk, more than 28,000 readers on Linkedin and hundreds of professionals across retail and the food and beverage trade have reacted to the company’s belief that BrewDog has copied the craft soft drink’s look.
Emerging drinks brand Soda Folk launched into the UK market just last year and is for sale online at Ocado and Amazon and at selected Sainsbury’s stores, as well as Holland & Barrett and a number of restaurant chains.
As no stranger to controversy, it’s not the first time BrewDog has been accused of copying other brands.
In early 2019 it took a branding agency’s Punk AF brand designs resulting in a public spat, while later that year it was accused of using fake job interviews to get free branding and marketing ideas.
Read more: BrewDog enters soft drink market
The Soda Folk post began: “Yo BrewDog, we’re flattered, really, we are – but you could have just told us you were a fan of our design rather than trying to impersonate us 🤷
“And thanks for taking our ‘Good Soda that celebrates Good Folk doing Good Deeds’ ethos that we’ve had since we launched to create your ‘tastes good and does good’ strapline. 👀
“We get it: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And as the fastest-growing craft soda in the UK, we know we’re the soft drink worth imitating.”
Soda Folk went on to mock up an image of Simon Waterfall to look like Brewdog’s MD, James Watt, but many of the comments on the post struggled to see the similarities between the two brands.
Huntly Gordon, said: “As much as I’d love another reason to stick it to BrewDog, I’m not seeing it.”
BrewDog has been approached for comment.
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