Petition calling out ‘transphobic’ beer ad gains thousands of supporters

A petition accusing a beer company of putting out a transphobic advert is fast approaching its target of 8,000 signatures.

BrewDog’s three-minute video shows its co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie appealing to viewers to invest in their brand and stop them resorting to things like begging on the streets or becoming trans sex workers to fund their product.

The clip features a scene showing the two of them in women’s underwear and wigs under a neon sign saying #Don’tMakeUsDoThis, after which they say they “would have to have a bath afterwards”.

Beth Granter, who started the petition against the ad, writes: “BrewDog beer company claims to be ‘beer for punks’. They claim to be ethical. Yet in their new crowdsourcing video they mock homeless people, trans women and sex workers.

“They say, ‘don’t make us do this’ whilst performing as offensive caricatures of people, many of whom already suffer discrimination every day. They are mocking the lives and experiences of people who real punks would be defending and helping.”

She adds: “Worse, this is a fundraising video – they’re using these images in an exploitative manner to make money.”

It is hoped that BrewDog will issue an apology and give donations to relevant charities if enough signatories are gathered.

Neither Watt nor Dickie have addressed the backlash on social media yet. At time of writing the video has nearly four times as many Dislikes as Likes on YouTube.

Watch it below.