The Lone Wolf, an independent pub run by siblings Joshua and Sallie McFadyen in Birmingham; received a warning from BrewDog’s lawyers instructing them to change their name, as it was the same as BrewDog’s new spirit range.

Yes, you read that right…

The brother and sister duo had registered the name before the spirit’s name was registered! So you’d presume The Lone Wolf pub had a very good case against the Aberdonian brew house? But as is often the situation: they didn’t have the funds to fight the brewer.

Ironically, BrewDog have been on the receiving end of the big boys’ legal teams before:

Elvis Presley’s estate were unimpressed with the brewer’s use of Elvis’ name on one of their beers. BrewDog issued the following statement:

“Here at BrewDog, we don’t take too kindly to petty pen pushers attempting to make a fast buck by discrediting our good name under the guise of copyright infringement.”

Social Media backlash

After news of this broke, there has been a significant social media backlash; with people calling-out BrewDog’s hypocrisy. Many noting this as a classic example of big business appearing to rage against the machine – for obvious marketing reasons – but eventually getting found out as no better than the big beer companies they rail against.

As a result of this bad press, the multinational brewing chain have since backed down. This is no comfort to The Wolf Pub, who have already been forced to re-brand their entire pub, website, social media etc. – All at their own expense.

While it’s true BrewDog had humble beginnings, they have always played on (and definitely profited from) their punk / DIY image. Protecting your brand is one thing; but to throw your corporate weight around, trampling on ‘the little guy‘ is a step too far. Especially if your company’s supposed Punk ethos is very much part of what you are selling.

Image: Independent Birmingham / TripAdvisor

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…Or fastened two things together with a Hook-and-loop fastener instead of the more permanent cellulose-based, pressure-sensitive adhesive tape?

For many companies / marketeers, their ultimate goal is for their brand to be adopted by the public as the generic term for a type of product. After all: word of mouth is free! ..but some companies go to great lengths to stop this happening, as it maybe used to describe other, inferior products and/or water-down their brand’s message.

When a brand becomes a verb may sound like a lost Percy Sledge B-side, but in some cases a brand name can take on a life of its own and become a verb: it’s slightly easier “To Google” something, than to “Perform a World Wide Web search” on something. You could also put Hoover and Tipp-Ex in this same category.

Trademarked brand names

Many of these terms actually take their name from the inventor of the product. A couple of notable examples being: Earl ‘Tupperware‘ Tupper and László Bíró.

A special mention must go out to Pierre Lacroix. Add the French word for rice(paper) and you get: Riz LaCroix …stylise ‘Croix‘ as a ‘+‘ (cross) and you get Rizla+.

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