The Twelve Cons of Christmas

'Tis the season for scamming – which is exactly what inspired the Consumer Protection Services in the Borough of Poole (that's in the UK), to update a classic and create The Twelve Cons of Christmas. It begins: "In the first con of Christmas a barman sold to me, a short pint of frothy beer." We simply had to stop there and investigate. Turns out in England, short measured pours of beer really have been a problem. Take this story from Stoke-on-Trent (yep, another city in Great Britain), which comes down on this "scam" of serving less than a pint of beer when a pint has been ordered:

A survey by Stoke-on-Trent City Council's Consumer Protection officers has found 40 percent of pubs serving short measure on pints of beer. Consumer Protection officers say the short measure happens when bar staff include the head on the beer as part of the liquid measure. The head is just froth and air and customers should not be paying beer prices for it. Peter Devaney, Assistant Director of Consumer Protection, said: "These short measures are unacceptable and unnecessary. Any drink with a head will be short measure when served in a glass which must be full of liquid to the top to give a pint." The law is unclear when it comes to measuring beer and the Government is currently considering a new legal definition of a pint of beer. One suggestion, which the city council is opposed to, is that a pint of beer should be 95 per cent liquid and five per cent head. Elected Mayor, Mike Wolfe, said: "The head costs nothing so you should not be expected to pay for it by getting less beer."

Needless to say, this is awesome.

Speaking of Christmas and bar scams, did you know our first DVD is called How to Scam Your Way to Free Beer and other Bar Bets? It is.