Hawkstone Released Their First Ad – It Was Banned. Let Me Sell It To You Instead

By Connie Say

To me, Jeremy Clarkson is clever, funny, and charming in a sort of bullish way, and handsome In a sort of, without-my-glasses-on-way. Amongst many things, I know him best for co-constructing a car crossing in Burma a la Bridge Over The River Kwai, and an earnest monologue in a Porche 928: watch here: “The 928 is alright”. But having since left Top Gear and The Grand Tour, Clarkson has embarked on a new media endeavour: Clarkson’s Farm. 

The Amazon series documents his challenges in learning to run his own 1000-acre working farm in Chipping Norton, West Oxfordshire. The show has attracted around 5 million annually returning viewers since the series’ conception in 2021 [1]; it has been a huge success. 

But to me, of anything that Clarkson has done, his most sincere and impressive piece of work is by far, his beer: Hawkstone. 

Hawkstone Beer released their first ad campaign earlier this month. Composed of a 34-person choir of British farmers, it was pulled from mainstream media for being just a little bit sweary. The brand has been met with cynicism – which I can understand. The drinks market is already wildly competitive. Throw celebrity drinks brands into the mix and you could form an alphabetti spaghetti of bang average Rose’s being cranked out by B-list celebs, all sold and drunk for their novelty.

Meghan Markle, her brand – As Ever – looks to “bring extra joy” to her fans [2], when “suddenly [she] understood what people meant by the body, legs and structure of wine!” [3]. If you don’t really know what good wine should be like, I don’t think you’re the one to sell it. 

Additionally, ‘tequilla enthusiast’ George Clooney headed his own $1 billion tequila business ‘Casamigos’. It’s namely a “personal project”, and definitely not a calculated business move [4].

In an incredibly busy market of celebrity drinks brands, you could argue that there was no demand for something like Hawkstone at all.

Yet, whilst the British Hops industry has been in steady decline, Hawkstone made £21.3 million in 2024 sales [5]. Since the beer is being stocked in 2000 pubs (and using only British hops), the company estimates it could single handedly add 30% in size to the industry by next year [6]. Testament to Clarkson’s aim, that he wants to put “Peroni out of business” [7], Hawkstone has been named as one of the Sunday Times top 100 fastest growing private companies of 2025 [8]. So far so good. 

In a poll by Future Countryside, it is shown that among Gen Z viewers, Clarkson is respected three times more on rural issues than Chris Packham [9]. The Top Gear alumni is pipped at the post by Sir David Attenborough for ‘most respected rural-y person’ however – fair enough, we say. 

But what Clarkson does have on Attenborough, is the chest-thumping desire to publicly denounce public ministers. His spikey Victoria Derbyshire interview proved that, where he was interviewed whilst out protesting against Labour’s Inheritance Tax Changes [10]. Rachel Reeves is cutting English farming budgets by £100 million and from April 2026, inherited agricultural assets of over £1 million will face a 20% tax [11]. But when an average UK farm is valued at £2.2 million [12], this is a nation wide problem. Not just a point of tension in an Amazon series. 

And beyond the beer, The Farmers Dog, the name of the pub Clarkson refurbished in his series commits to the idea that “every single thing you consume in The Farmer’s Dog was grown or reared by British farmers… You can run a pub that doesn’t serve avocado or Coca-Cola, so we don’t” [13] (bar perhaps the quinine in their tonic water).

Clarkson and Hawkstone’s loyalty to British farmers and farming is what fundamentally differentiates them from every other major beer brand in the UK market. The dark brown bottle is heavy enough to feel substantial but not like a watering can. I love the packaging – it feels like beer in a leather jacket, smoking a cigarette, that also buys flowers for your mother. Naughty, commanding, but very very well-behaved too.

The Hawkstone ad might have been banned, but fret yet not: I’ve sung its praises enough here. Jeremy, if you read this, just sellotape this entire write-up to your chin. In an oversaturated celebrity drinks market, you’ve made something special. “..The farm shop, the pub and TV show…are all entertainment. Hawkstone is grown-up…” [14] he says. And I believe him.

And to you, I say: Buy Hawkstone. Back British Farming. Have a pint, have a half; do the noble thing. Do a good, and decent thing. After all, the beer is actually pretty f*cking good. 

Sources: 

[1] Kanter, Jake. ‘Clarkson’s Farm Season 3 Breaks Amazon Ratings Record; Second Most Streamed Show of 2024 In UK’, IMDB, 05/10/2024 https://www.imdb.com/news/ni64580072/

[2] Ward, Victoria. ‘Meghan Uncorks Wine Venture to ‘Bring Joy To You And Your Loved Ones’, The Telegraph, 20/06/2025, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2025/06/20/meghan-duchess-sussex-as-ever-brand-wine/

[3] Cumming, Ed. ‘Meghan Has Launched Her New Rosé on Diana’s Birthday. How Shrewd’, The Telegraph. 01/07/2025, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/columnists/meghan-launched-new-rose-on-dianas-birthday-how-shrewd/

[4]Lima, Orlando. ‘How Casamigos Made George Clooney An Accidental Billionaire’, Taste Select Repeat. 14/02/2025, https://www.tasteselectrepeat.com/blogs/bts/george-clooney-casamigos? srsltid=AfmBOopjGl9i7Xlwvk_HiE0T29EIkn22-KkBt4s7Dsk2VXCjB8I-XEe8

[5] Tyler, Richard. ‘Jeremy Clarkson: ‘I want to put Peroni Out of Business’’. The Times. 27/06/25. https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-100-fast-growth/company-feature/article/jeremy-clarkson-hawkstone-interview-d9b9r6zp0

[6] Tyler, Richard. ‘Jeremy Clarkson: ‘I want to put Peroni Out of Business’’. The Times. 27/06/25. https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-100-fast-growth/company-feature/article/jeremy-clarkson-hawkstone-interview-d9b9r6zp0

[7] Tyler, Richard. ‘Jeremy Clarkson: ‘I want to put Peroni Out of Business’’. The Times. 27/06/25. https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-100-fast-growth/company-feature/article/jeremy-clarkson-hawkstone-interview-d9b9r6zp0

[8] Hawkstone Writers, ‘Hawkstone lands on The Sunday Times Hundred 2025’, Hawkstone Offical Website, June 2025, https://hawkstone.com/blogs/hawkstone-stories/hawkstone-lands-on-the-sunday-times-hundred-2025

[9] Blackett, Jamie. ‘A farmer’s view of Clarkson’s Farm: Bang on when it comes to loneliness, and the daft expense of tractors’, The Telegraph, 26/05/25, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2025/05/26/farmers-view-on-clarksons-farm-series-4/

[10] BBC Newsnight, ‘Jeremy Clarkson argues against inheritance tax changes as thousands of farmers protest in London’, Youtube, 19/11/24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQGVJ_5CsyM

[11] BBC Newsnight, ‘Jeremy Clarkson argues against inheritance tax changes as thousands of farmers protest in London’, Youtube, 19/11/24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQGVJ_5CsyM

[12] Saffery, ‘Over 4.8 million acres of UK farmland at risk from IHT reforms’ Saffery Website, 13/11/2024, https://www.saffery.com/insights/news/over-4-8-million-acres-of-uk-farmland-at-risk-from-iht-reforms/

[13] The Farmers Dog. ‘[About blurb]’, https://thefarmersdogpub.com/

[14] Tyler, Richard. ‘Jeremy Clarkson: ‘I want to put Peroni Out of Business’’. The Times. 27/06/25. https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-100-fast-growth/company-feature/article/jeremy-clarkson-hawkstone-interview-d9b9r6zp0