Clarkson says the advert will not be shown on TV or in cinemas and has been banned from the radio
Jeremy Clarkson says an advert he has created to promote his beer has been banned by every major platform – including all TV channels, all radio stations and cinema. Hawkstone, formerly the Cotswolds Brewing Company, is based in Cheltenham and Bourton‑on‑the‑Water, Gloucestershire.
In 2021 it rebranded after teaming up with Jeremy Clarkson, who invested in the company and helped launch Hawkstone Lager —a 4.8% ABV beer originally made from barley grown on his Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire.
Clarkson has been involved in a number of adverts for the beer, but he says the latest has failed to make it past the censors. H is latest creation, featuring a 34-strong choir of real British farmers, has been ‘banned from broadcast on every major platform’, prompting Clarkson to appeal directly to the nation’s press to run the advert.
The ad, which Clarkson describes as “the best thing I’ve ever made, apart from a shepherd’s pie in 1988,” features a choir of genuine, farmers singing ‘with the voices of angels’. The project was intended to be a powerful celebration of British farming, the backbone of his best-selling lager and cider brand.
And yet, it may never be seen… “It’s a cock-up, as usual,” said Clarkson from his Diddly Squat Farm. “I’ve made my biggest, most heartfelt, and frankly, most expensive advert ever, and it’s been banned. The fun police in their beige offices have decided that the public can’t be trusted to watch it. It’s been kicked off the telly, silenced on the radio, and barred from the cinema. Apparently, it’s ‘not compliant’. With what, I have no idea. Common sense?”
Clarkson said: “If the regulators won’t let the people see it, then perhaps the newspapers will. I’m asking every editor in the country: will you publish my banned ad?”
Hawkstone sells a range of premium British lagers, ciders and vodka. Named after an ancient standing stone, the beer was originally made from the barley grown at Diddly Squat Farm. Hawkstone is the fastest growing beer brand in the UK, and the most followed beer in the world on Instagram.
The advert features the farmers repeatedly singing offensive language – with the phrase ‘f*** me it’s good’ before Clarkson finishes the video by swearing himself.