Scottish legal AI startup apologises to Boston with whisky and billboards

For two weeks this month, Boston was effectively transformed into a Scottish city. An estimated 50,000 Scotland supporters descended on Boston for the World Cup, reportedly drinking local bars dry.

The Sam Adams Taproom in downtown Boston said the Tartan Army had “drunk them dry”, selling four times as much as it usually would during a long holiday weekend.

Many bars across the city reported running out of beer, prompting “emergency deliveries” to replenish supplies, particularly of Scottish favourite Tennent’s.

Now, as the Tartan Army heads south to Miami for Scotland's next matches, Edinburgh-founded legal AI company Wordsmith has launched an unusual farewell campaign that doubles as a marketing push aimed at corporate legal teams.

Boston goodbye

One of Scotland's fastest growing companies Wordsmith has unveiled a billboard in Boston carrying the message: "Boston, your bars fought bravely."

A longer version appears in a full-page ad in The Boston Globe, where Wordsmith apologises for Scottish supporters allegedly "drinking the bars dry" and invites residents to record a ten-second farewell message for the departing fans.

The campaign asks Bostonians to submit videos, with the best 367 clips set to be shown during this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The number is a reference to 367 AD, when the ancestral tribes of Scotland launched a surprise invasion of Roman Britain known to historians as the Great Conspiracy. Wordsmith noted that the company is marking this anniversary “more peacefully”.

Whisky diplomacy

Alongside the advertising campaign, Wordsmith is sending 367 bottles of bespoke, custom-labelled Scotch whisky to in-house lawyers across Boston. The company describes the bottles as a form of "humanitarian aid" for corporate legal departments.

Wordsmith develops AI tools designed for corporate legal departments and says the campaign is aimed at teams increasingly looking to handle more work internally rather than relying on outside counsel.

The company recently raised a $70 million series B and has more than 500 customers on its platform.

Ross McNairn, chief executive and co-founder of Wordsmith, said: "Boston opened its doors, put up with the bagpipes, ran out of beer, and treated us like family. That takes a truly special kind of host, and we're grateful for every minute of it."

He added: "The farewell films are our thank-you for the welcome, and the whisky is our apology for the bars. Good health - or Slàinte, as we say in Scotland.”