News / Pubs
Billboard shares bad reviews of much-loved pub
A student project to design beermats for a pub has ballooned into a full-sized billboard advertising its charms.
Look closer at the the poster on Rudthorpe Road and you will see that the reviews contained on each coaster are not all positive, but they are kosher.
‘Nice food. If you like pickled eggs and crisps’ says one. ‘Excellent. But not last night’ says another.
is needed now More than ever
Four beermats with real reviews like ‘Friendly staff most of the time’ have been included on the billboard – photo: Martin Booth
The Drapers Arms on Gloucester Road is celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2025 and the billboard has been designed by some of its customers who are also studying graphic design at UWE.
The students – Skye Hutton-Attenborough, Rhys Lewis and Will Vaughan – were given a brief to identify a local company and come up with ideas to rebrand their business.
“We enjoyed socialising in our local micropub so much, so we decided to mix business with pleasure and chose to focus the project on the Drapers Arms,” said Skye.
The trio interviewed landlord Garvan Hickey, members of staff, locals and local residents who had never visited in order to “get a feel of what people enjoyed and knew – or didn’t know – about the Drapers Arms; and what could be improved”.
While designing some beermats, the students thought it would be fun to put some genuine reviews on them.
But they did not only want pub patrons to see their work, so approached Out of Hand, the owners of a nearby poster site on Rudthorpe Road, who agreed to showcase their work to a wider audience.
“For people passing on the top deck of the bus, a fleeting glance may make the name of the business stick in their memory,” said Will.
“If someone stops to read the poster then there’s every chance they might be interested enough to call in, to see whether these reviewers have got it right.”
The Drapers Arms opened on Gloucester Road in 2015 – photo: Martin Booth
Garvan admitted he was “very sceptical” about the idea at first..
“However, I know about beer, these students know about graphic design and marketing; and the finished article looks great.
“They assured me people will appreciate it as it’s all tongue-in-cheek so I was persuaded to give it a go.
“Customers now love it and are now having their photo taken with the billboard. We will all now wait and see the actual results!”
The billboard on Rudthorpe Road aims to entice new customers into the Drapers just around the corner – photo: Martin Booth
Out of Hand commercial director, Nigel Muntz, added: “We were approached by these students a couple of months ago and it seemed a perfect fit with what Out of Hand is all about.
“We are all for backing small independent local businesses and we were delighted to support this venture.
“Bristolians love this sort of thing; they never take themselves too seriously and appreciate it when businesses can have a laugh at themselves.”
Main photo: Martin Booth
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