The label’s upside down? Stone Brewing bestows its “leave no stone unturned” philosophy
22 Jul 2020 --- US beer company Stone Brewing is leading its first marketing campaign with new beer labels that are placed upside down. This is “not some kind of monumental mistake,” Co-Founder Greg Koch assures beer fans around the world. Rather, it serves as a simple but powerful message to “Leave No Stone Unturned.” The label design marks the latest imaginative attempt by a brewery to attract consumers in an increasingly busy market.
Otherwise entirely unchanged in style and design, the new labels took beer enthusiasts by surprise, considering their upside-down feature went unannounced and, for the most part, unexplained.
“We haven’t been hacked, we certainly haven’t sold out. [The new labels are] the physical manifestation of our most deeply held belief,” Koch said in an Instagram video. 
“It’s a cool, very simple message that says ‘We like pursuing our craft, we do it with passion, we’ve been doing it for a long time and we are nowhere close to being done. The bottom line is, in our pursuit in the perfection of brewery, we will leave no stone unturned.”
Stone Brewing’s new advertising campaign encourages consumers to “Leave No Stone Unturned.” (All photo credits: Stone Brewing)Koch further stated that Stone Brewing never stops pursuing perfection and greatness even at the risk of failure. This reference pays homage to its trans-Atlantic move to Berlin, Germany, where the US beer brewer opened in 2016. However, the company was forced to return to its San Diego headquarters in 2019, having sold its facility to Brewdog, self-acclaimed longtime friend of Stone Brewing.
“Awards and accolades are awesome and humbling. Unfortunately, they aren’t enough. To feed a beast like Berlin, we needed volume,” Koch said at the time. “The sheer cost of building and maintaining Stone Berlin to our standards didn’t let us grow it slowly. Sometimes you got to realize when your dream is becoming a threat to your greater good.”
Having since returned home, Stone Brewing is today the ninth-largest craft brewer in the US with operating brewing facilities in Escondido, California and Richmond, Virginia. Stone Brewing counts eight IPAs in its year-round releases and 16 in its current special releases.
“I’d like to thank you for joining us on this journey, and I hope you also leave no stone unturned in your own personal adventures. I’m glad you are here with us on ours. Cheers!” he concluded, with a belch.
By Anni Schleicher
