For many of us, January will be a month of getting back in shape ofter the massive indulgence of the Christmas period. But not if Jeremy Clarkson gets his way. The Diddly Squat farm owner has launched his own “non-advent calendar” for January – aimed to hit back at the Dry January trend.
Coming from his Hawkstone booze brand Clarkson is offering a crate stacked with 25 days worth of lager, cider and gifts to help get you through the darkest month of the year. And his might help him with his own financial dark days too.
The former Top Gear host said: “Past the age of nine advent calendars lose their appeal somewhat, but not this one. This is the Hawkstone advent calendar and behind the little door on each day of the month there is a delicious bottle of beer and cider.”
The “advent calendar” features a box with 31 doors containing drinks from his low alcohol range, all the way up to a bottle of 40% vodka. A pair of shot glasses is also included as part of your £85 purchase. In a press release, Hawkstone said: “Don’t fancy a dry stint in January? Go for a drizzle instead with the damp edition of our Not Advent Advent Calendar.
The product was initially offered as a conventional advent calendar back in November, but quite a few potential punters were put off by the price. One social media user wrote: “Just saying to the Mrs to get us one, be like £40 I reckon…nope £85 never mind.” Another said: “£85, £3.40 a bottle, he’s definitely ripping people off now.”
The slow sales will only add to Clarkson’s financial woes. His Diddly Squat Farm reportedly only managed to turn a profit of £150 in its first year, and his Cotswolds pub The Farmer’s Dog is reportedly doing even “worse” than that.
A spate of thefts – with as many as a hundred pint glasses being pinched in a single day – has put an even bigger dent in Clarkson’s finances. “The theft, for example, is extraordinary,” Clarkson said. “People seem to have it in their heads that if they come in for a pint, they are entitled to go home with the glass in which it was served.”
“Last Sunday 104 went missing. And that cost must be added to the £100 a day we spend on fuel for the generator, the £400 a week it costs to provide warmth on the terrace and the £27,000 a month we must spend on parking and traffic marshals to keep the council off our back.”
Perhaps persistence will pay off. Despite its poor initial performance, Diddly Squat farm was generating a total profit of £72,601 this year. Clarkson’s net worth is estimated to be around £43 million.