Anheuser Busch and their deceptive marketing

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Of the BMC beers, Coors is what I'd grab if I had to. Miller or Bud only if there was nothing else available. I find all of the light variations terrible tasting, along with all versions of Natural and others in that rock-bottom-price category.

I'm well past those beers now. They were really only appealing when I was younger, trying to get hammered for the fewest number of cents. I don't consider myself a beer snob, but I do like good brews, and they're certainly not it.

I don't have a problem with AB's practices, but again haven't looked into their dealings. I will say that it bothers me that BMC spends so much money on advertising to blow sunshine up people's butts and convince them it's a great beer or even the best. It's good, at best. (Edit: most advertisers do this)
 
We are becoming so close to a Dualopoly in this country where beer is concerned.

1) People everywhere have the option of buying craft beer. I just spent time in Tupelo Mississippi. They have some fantastic craft beer there (Lazy Magnolia, Yazoo).

2) If 54% of Americans still choose to buy Bud, it's not because Bud did something wrong, it's because Bud did something right.
 
From my previous experience as a liquor store manager I would have to say that a lot of the distributors for BMC are evil but BMC themselves aren't too bad from what I understand. If you talk to people like Stan Hieronymous or Randy Mosher they will probably tell you that some of the most useful sources of knowledge behind the science of brewing are the guys that work at BMC. They really love what they do even though it may not exactly show due to years of homogenization.

That's just my take on it..
 
When I worked in Cedar Rapids Iowa in 1976, us folks from Arizona were jones-ing for a Coors beer. The only way we drank Coors was a case or two got "left" in a truck that came from Arizona, and boy were we glad! Looking back, I have no Idea how hot the beer may gotten, we were just happy for a taste of home...
I remember when "Coors Light" first came to the Phoenix area; within a month we were calling them "Silver Bullets" Wayyyy before Coors ever did. Wow, the next time I come up with a moniker for a mass made product, I am going to get the copyright in my name first, and then they can pay me for an idea I had so I can buy more home brewing equipment. A man can dream, can't he?











As a funny little bit of history, I'll throw my hat into the ring. I have in my possession a pamphlet from the Coors Brewery tour circa 1975 (76?). It talks about their superior product etc. but one of the funnier elements is that at one time it was only available in Colorado, and then later when the pamphlet itself was written it showed a cartoony little map where you could find Coors and where they distributed. Funnily enough it was almost impossible to find east of the rocky mountains and they even cautioned consumers not to buy their product in eastern states because it was likely bootlegged or counterfeit and thus inferior. So really, Coors was a little guy way back when that TONS of people really really liked, even going so far as bootlegging the stuff, and then capitalism took hold (and president Gerald Ford, a HUGE fan of Coors) and BAM, multi-national conglomerate. It's a pretty funny little piece of history and it lovingly shares the shelf next to my other rare-print items, like my 1962 CDC workbook for children educating them and their families about how to react in the event of a nuclear war (some of the shelter diagrams are laughably unrealistic, think particle board lean-to covered in 3-4inches of dirt against a house).

Now I have a choice to make after this delightful little vignette into history, wait a really long time for my homebrew to get cold in the fridge since all the cold ones got consumed, or have a nice, ice-cold Banquet beer right now? ;)
 
As a funny little bit of history, I'll throw my hat into the ring. I have in my possession a pamphlet from the Coors Brewery tour circa 1975 (76?). It talks about their superior product etc. but one of the funnier elements is that at one time it was only available in Colorado

I remember coors from the late 70's in Ohio. I'm not sure it was purchased in Ohio, but I remember having coors. They had the two round punch holes on the top (a little hole for air and the big one you drank out of). They called it an "ecology top" because there was no pull tab to toss after you opened it.
 
A) Will SOMEONE please tell me how these companies are "taking advantage" of anyone?

B) AGAIN, as has been mentioned, the fact that there are now 2100+ breweries seems to indicate that their evil plan to destroy something isn't working. If anything, it might well be growing the market, which means that anyone who has any share in the market ends up with a slice of a bigger pie.

C) If it comes down to some philosophical notion that big companies are always bad/wrong, well, that's lame. And I suspect that is the main point of most of these arguments.

D) People who drink certain popular beers aren't "lemmings," anymore than people who refuse to drink them or only drink local or only drink small or whatever are lemmings of a different color. There are people who genuinely like those products, and those who don't. And people who like all of them.

E) I'm glad someone mentioned the days when Coors was regional. It was probably in the 80s when it showed up in the East. (Of all the light beers, Coors is the one that I would probably pass on most of the time, except in cases of extreme thirst. The Banquet or Original, though, that's good stuff.)

It's really a more complex issue than it seems. The OP has taken a lot of crap, but he DID say that he could have destroyed the rep in front of everyone.

A) How are these companies taking advantage of anyone....Well lets see, they take advantage of consumers ignorance, that is why cold is a flavor, triple hopped is supposedly amazing and unique, we have terminology like "cold brewed" (wtf does that mean), and "drinkability" (??), wide mouth bottles/cans, speed pour tabs (shotgunning anyone), and all of the other BS they have been dumping on the consumer that has no actual bearing on the beer, or the brewing process.
They take advantage of liquor stores all the time. I actually work for a distributor, and see this all the time. If a store doesn't give them X% of wall space for advertising the case price goes up. If a store doesn't order X amount of cases of brand X they will not be allowed to purchase brand Y. If the store does not allocate a certain % of cooler space for their brands, case price goes up. They offer tickets and passes to every event imaginable if you order X amount of cases (totally freaking illegal). I can go on and on if you like.

B) Yes now there are over 2100 breweries, and it is wonderful. And because of this that is why BMC are putting out so many beers to compete with the craft brewers and being completely dishonest about it. They know that there are Hundreds of thousands of people that want to support small/local breweries, and not them. That is why their labels are so deceiving, they try to make it look like a small brewer made it. That is why the BA is fighting against BMC http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/media/press-releases/show?title=craft-vs-crafty-a-statement-from-the-brewers-association .

C) Not all big companies are evil. Just the ones that practice evil in all of their dealings. How many lawsuits has BMC thrown at small brewers, just because they can. They know that they can afford to wage frivolous lawsuits, and the little guys cannot always afford to fight them. That imho is evil.

D) Never called anyone a lemming (I prefer sheeple). Hey, if you like bud, cool, if you like sam adams, cool, taste is up to the consumer. However what is wrong with educating consumers? I think that if you removed deception in advertising and actually educated about your product instead, you would see a huge shift in what the supposed #1 beer in America is.

E) Yup, Coors did used to be regional, and they used to be a responsible company, hell my father used to work for them, they used to be one of the best employers in this state. That is no longer the case. Just like so many other companies, success attracts some less then savory elements. Their wages have gone down, at the same time that their profits are going up, imagine that. Their merger with Miller only made it worse. There is a reason that Monopolies are supposed to be illegal.
 
It is really amazing to me that home brewers, or Beer snobs can actually defend the practices of BMC. We are becoming so close to a Dualopoly in this country where beer is concerned. If InBev purchases Modelo they will own 52% of the beer market, add in MillerCoors, and there is 80% of the beer market controlled by 2 corporations. Pray that the DOJ stops the deal, since it violates Anti trust laws. But just as we have seen in the banking industry, once you get so big, nobody can prosecute you. When you control the market the rules no longer apply to you.

Yea, sure BMC beers always taste the same, but make no mistake, it is all about greed. Defending these guys, to me is akin to the poor and the middle class in the country defending the top 1%, by screaming about class warfare, and "punishing success". You are playing into the hands of those who are taking advantage of you. Thank the Gods there is such a big craft beer boom going on in this country, or we would be back to living in a world full of flavorless uninteresting beer. I assure you that BMC would love to go back to 1980 when this country only had 82 active breweries, as opposed to the 2,100+ that we have today.

Now we're going off of the deep end. It's one thing to dislike AB, and it's your right to do so, but this just veered into Occupy Beer Store territory.

Wonder why there were so few breweries? In 1980, homebrew had only been legal for two years. Guess who was responsible for ensuring that federal prohibition laws were enforced before 1978? THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. And yet, we're going to turn to the DOJ because a couple of beer companies are "too big?" Yes, great idea to get the people responsible for the lack of variety to create variety through coercion.

Edit: I'm glad this view seems to be in the minority among homebrewers. Even on the two comments on the Brewer's Association link, one has the right idea.
 
I assure you that BMC would love to go back to 1980 when this country only had 82 active breweries, as opposed to the 2,100+ that we have today.

So clearly - BMC's monopoly over the beer industry is preventing other breweries from starting up or competing.

BMC does not have a monopoly, because of the three tier system that most of all of the people here are against. If we ditch the three tier system, then you would really see the effects of their market power. Your liquor stores and the distributors would be owned by BMC.
 
One time, in college, I drank too much Bud Light and it made me sick. AB sux!

Also, those pop tabs on the Miller cans don't work all that well. Showing people opening the cans with keys, now that's false advertising.

Ha, thanks. We need to get back on topic. My apologies for derailing. I get a little heated over that stuff.


Miller High Life tastes like sweet pilsner malt, subtle hops and is faintly reminiscent of bananas! Off with their hea---wait, actually, I really like it. +1 for Miller, I guess.
 
Miller High Life tastes like sweet pilsner malt, subtle hops and is faintly reminiscent of bananas! Off with their hea---wait, actually, I really like it. +1 for Miller, I guess.

I'd never tried High Life until recently, but it turns out it's the only beer my Father-in-Law drinks... so last time he visited we grabbed a six pack. It's surprisingly good, considering how cheap it is.

Also, it's the champagne of beers, which is, like, scientific fact.
 
I'm still trying to figure out what was wrong with his statement, and how it was "deceptive." You yourself conceded that what he said was true ... in your very first post!

*Insert incredulous smilyface here*

So what's the problem, McMalty? Why are you so furious if you're cool with their beer, and you admitted that what he said was in fact true?

Here's why kombat, bc cba is an alliance made up of breweries owned all or in part by inbev. So they're in alliance with themselves, which is not an alliance. I've said this already, so if ur not understanding things, please read the whole thread b4 u claim not to understand. The answers r in the thread, so read and then u will understand. Otherwise, don't throw around allegations. And I'm not "furious" at all, but u'd have to read the thread to know that too. And yes, its a long thread, but arguing with u is making it longer
 
he's FURIOUS because when told "no, i don't support Anheuser Busch products" the rep had the audacity, the NERVE! the how-DARE-YOU! to ask, "why?"

Holy crap man, I'm not furious, I'm tired of explaining this...
 
Holy crap man, I'm not furious, I'm tired of explaining this...

I'm still following the thread, but have stopped posting. I'm not sure what other point can even be made. I feel your pain though, to jump on at the end of the thread just to repeat what has already been said/explained is lame and when the point is made as an insult, its even more D-bagish.
 
Everybody has their own opinion of good and poor beer... But a local bar got busted by their distributor for mislabeling taps and their customers never realized it. They were buying numerous kegs of Coors (and nothing else, which was the tip off) and serving at different temperatures as different labels. Warmest was Bud, ML next, BL a bit colder, and Coors ice cold. With the way temperature affects the flavor profile their customers thought they were getting what they paid for. Turns out they were just content with what they were getting.

Not looking to cause trouble, just saying, if you can't tell the difference between B and C then pull your head out of your A. :) HA HA
 
I know! What the heck. When was the last time you saw Bud being delivered by a team of Clydesdales pulling a giant sleigh? Damn you AB InBev!
 
Here's why kombat, bc cba is an alliance made up of
breweries owned all or in part by inbev.

Ah, OK, it's all starting to make sense now.

You're misinformed.

The Craft Brew Alliance is actually comprised of 3 breweries:

  • Red Hook
  • Widmer Brothers (also makes Omission beer)
  • Kona Brewing

None of those breweries are owned by AB-Inbev. They are, however, all owned entirely by the Craft Brew Alliance itself, which AB-Inbev owns a 32.2% stake in.

However, last time I checked, owning less than 1/3 of a company doesn't give you the right to go in and order people to make a bunch of changes they don't want to make.
 
I like all beer, except maybe my cornstalk ale, I still have a few bottles if anyone wants to try some. It's aging rather badly as well.
 
Ah, OK, it's all starting to make sense now.

You're misinformed.

The Craft Brew Alliance is actually comprised of 3 breweries:


[*]Red Hook
[*]Widmer Brothers (also makes Omission beer)
[*]Kona Brewing


None of those breweries are owned by AB-Inbev. They are, however, all owned entirely by the Craft Brew Alliance itself, which AB-Inbev owns a 32.2% stake in.

However, last time I checked, owning less than 1/3 of a company doesn't give you the right to go in and order people to make a bunch of changes they don't want to make.

However that 32.2% allows inbev to appoint to members to CBA's board of directors. So even though they don't dictate they still get a stronger vote than any other minority shareholder. But the original point still stands, you cannot be in alliance with yourself. I wonder what inbev would say if the CBA wanted to buy back those shares. Wonder if King distributing would still be willing to distribute CBA beer if there was no monetary interest in it for inbev anymore. There are ways to coerce your enemies without ever outright fighting them.
 
Right, 32% is still a whopping amount of control, especially if the remaining ownership is widely held. Looks like 15% is held institutionally and 56% by insiders. Interesting.

Also, 90% of their sales are to A-B and A-B related entities.

I tried finding detail on AB's equity method investments, but nothing came up; I highly doubt the CBA is consolidated at only 32%. Either way, it's no stretch to say AB has major influence over the CBA.
 
passedpawn said:
I.e., if I go to a bar and a woman asks me to dance, I could respond with "no thanks" or "No, you're kinda ugly". Which one is the tactful response there?
Best line by far. I drink Pabst because its trendy and I'm trendy and it taste good with orange juice. Beermosa!
 
Ah, OK, it's all starting to make sense now.

You're misinformed.

The Craft Brew Alliance is actually comprised of 3 breweries:

  • Red Hook
  • Widmer Brothers (also makes Omission beer)
  • Kona Brewing

None of those breweries are owned by AB-Inbev. They are, however, all owned entirely by the Craft Brew Alliance itself, which AB-Inbev owns a 32.2% stake in.

However, last time I checked, owning less than 1/3 of a company doesn't give you the right to go in and order people to make a bunch of changes they don't want to make.

You're actually misinformed, You forgot Omission, they're also a part of CBA, 4 breweries, not 3.

If you own 32.2% of something that's publicly traded, that makes you a shareholder and a major benefactor of its success, not someone who's in alliance with an entire industry. It's like Bill Gates saying he's in alliance with Microsoft. Well fine then, i'm in alliance with my house which i currently own equity in.

you're right, owning 32.2% doesn't give u the right to order people around, which would make me look dumb if i had actually said that, but i didn't. seems u like to put words in my mouth. Now I'm thru with debating you.
 
TNGabe said:
I know! What the heck. When was the last time you saw Bud being delivered by a team of Clydesdales pulling a giant sleigh? Damn you AB InBev!

3 months ago.... They went right through William and Mary campus. It was awesome.
 
However that 32.2% allows inbev to appoint to members to CBA's board of directors. So even though they don't dictate they still get a stronger vote than any other minority shareholder. But the original point still stands, you cannot be in alliance with yourself. I wonder what inbev would say if the CBA wanted to buy back those shares. Wonder if King distributing would still be willing to distribute CBA beer if there was no monetary interest in it for inbev anymore. There are ways to coerce your enemies without ever outright fighting them.

The company I work for was a startup before it was acquired by a much larger company.

While we were still in startup mode, two of our major investors were also our competitors. We were a niche supplier (i.e. the craft supplier) while they were the big multinational company (equivalent of BMC).

They weren't there to water us down. They weren't there to keep us out of the market.

They were investing because large companies usually have a very difficult time innovating. They generally get very conservative corporate cultures where people don't want to upset the apple cart, and making big risky decisions either gets you a pat on the back or your head chopped off. So many large companies tend to grow through acquisition and outside investment rather than organic innovation.

In the end, the companies who invested in us didn't end up acquiring us. But they got a nice payday for their investment as part of the sale. It's win-win.
 
You're actually misinformed, You forgot Omission, they're also a part of CBA, 4 breweries, not 3.

Uhm, read my post again.

Widmer Brewing brews Omission beer. There are only 3 actual breweries. 4 brands, but only 3 breweries.

And my point stands. How much direction do you think Kona Brewing takes from AB-Inbev? How much influence do you think AB-Inbev has with respect to the recipes Red Hook uses for their brews?

And even if they do exert the occassional pressure (which would be quite unique in the business world, with only owning less than 1/3 of the parent company), so what? Are you claiming none of those brands are true "craft brews," because AB-Inbev owns a few shares of their parent company? Are they posers?

Your AB rep claimed they support craft brewers, and it seems the facts back him up - by your own admission! So what's the problem? Where was the "deception?"
 
I'm lucky to live in a town where most restaurants have a dozen + taps of craft beer. Last weekend I asked the waitress at a local pub if there were any beers not on their beer list (which is fairly common, last week it was Bell's HopSlam) and she comically told me "Well, besides all that craft beer, we do have bud and bud light." So I typically can find the style I'm in the mood for at any time.

That said, I sometimes like a light lager or pils. I tend to only order locally produced beer when I'm out. This is because I want to support the local breweries and I want to help build up the culture of locally produced products. This is the same reason I buy local produce and shop for locally produced goods in other areas of my life. There was a time however when I looked down on the Bud drinkers. Recently though, I was in a situation where it was bought for me, I drank it and was actually pretty impressed. It wasn't what I was used to, but it was refreshing and easy to drink and even after 3 or 4 didn't hit me like the beers I normally order.

I have a plan to devote the next year of brewing at my house to lagers, pilsners, and session beers.
 
Yeah and I can find more craft beer in my grocery store or even drug store than I can find an AHB-inbev product. They're really squezing out the craft breweries. :rolleyes:

While picking up some brew today I couldn't help but to notice the cooler in my local grocery store packed full of AB products. Id'e say 10' of craft brew and 50' + of BMC products. Should have taken a picture.
 
And my point stands. How much direction do you think Kona Brewing takes from AB-Inbev? How much influence do you think AB-Inbev has with respect to the recipes Red Hook uses for their brews?

And even if they do exert the occassional pressure (which would be quite unique in the business world, with only owning less than 1/3 of the parent company), so what? Are you claiming none of those brands are true "craft brews," because AB-Inbev owns a few shares of their parent company? Are they posers?

Your AB rep claimed they support craft brewers, and it seems the facts back him up - by your own admission! So what's the problem? Where was the "deception?"

fair enough, 4 brands, 3 breweries, whatever.

"your point" refers to a completely different matter than my point, making it irrelevant in using it to counter my statements.

I don't believe the reps claim was correct b/c i don't believe that CBA is craft brew. But that's a different argument, that i DON'T want to have regarding the definition of a craft brew. I certainly don't think of craft brew as being publicly traded in the stock market though.

Maybe i should have just stayed home and drank homebrew, eh?
 
As a funny little bit of history, I'll throw my hat into the ring. I have in my possession a pamphlet from the Coors Brewery tour circa 1975 (76?). It talks about their superior product etc. but one of the funnier elements is that at one time it was only available in Colorado, and then later when the pamphlet itself was written it showed a cartoony little map where you could find Coors and where they distributed. Funnily enough it was almost impossible to find east of the rocky mountains and they even cautioned consumers not to buy their product in eastern states because it was likely bootlegged or counterfeit and thus inferior. So really, Coors was a little guy way back when that TONS of people really really liked, even going so far as bootlegging the stuff, and then capitalism took hold (and president Gerald Ford, a HUGE fan of Coors) and BAM, multi-national conglomerate. It's a pretty funny little piece of history and it lovingly shares the shelf next to my other rare-print items, like my 1962 CDC workbook for children educating them and their families about how to react in the event of a nuclear war (some of the shelter diagrams are laughably unrealistic, think particle board lean-to covered in 3-4inches of dirt against a house).

Now I have a choice to make after this delightful little vignette into history, wait a really long time for my homebrew to get cold in the fridge since all the cold ones got consumed, or have a nice, ice-cold Banquet beer right now? ;)

Wait just a minute, you're telling me I wasn't safe in elementary school hiding under my desk as a protective measure from a rusky nuclear blast?

Where's the beer?

My whole life is based on a lie.
 
Iwas very happy to walk out of my liquor store with some Blue Point Toxic Sludge and some Victory Hop Wallup. Hooray beer.
 
Ok, honestly guys. Nothing wrong with someone pointing out some dishonest business practices of one company, contrasted with honest business practices of another. AB-Inbev are dishonest, period. Why support that kind of thing? They aren't an American company. Whats wrong with trying to support "made in the USA?" Support your local economy. I thought all that was a good thing. What are people defending here?

Even if their beer was great I would try to avoid it for the same reason I generally try to stick with local organic produce. Healthier, supports local, tastier, usually ends up supporting nicer folk. Its just a general truism. Not always of course, but generally.

I'm with revy on being turned around to BMC on a taste level. Also, respect the skill involved since i started brewing CAPs myslef. Sometimes i drink BMC like a lot of folk, great on a hot day. Never any off flavors (or much of any flavor really). Its just light crisp and thirst quenching. Good for what it is.

No reason to sign some pledge of allegiance here or anything, supporting this company and railing against that one. Just notice AB-Inbev is a bully that produces less than stellar beer. Probably better to support nicer people in your local economy.
 
For a thought provoking and informative read about the Busch family and their methods over the years try (Bitter Brew) by William Knodelseder. American psychopath, corrupt, crony, predatory capitalism at its worse...
 
I don't get it. Why not let people buy what they want to buy and be happy about consumers exercising their personal choice with their purchases? Who cares if someone favorably responds to advertizing that claims "cold" is a flavor? They purchase what they wanted to buy. It the same when people who only drink BMC complain about bitter beer, who are they to care, no one is forcing them to buy or drink it.

All this sounds familiar to the argument against Walmart, people complaining about what they do to small businesses. Guess what, if those in the local community wanted to shop at the local small shops instead of Walmart it would be Walmart going out of business. Why do the local shops go out of business, because the many decide to shop at Walmart instead of them. The problem is that a few have a problem with how the many will spend their dollars. Is it that the few think they are smarter than the many, that the many are not smart enough to know how to "properly" spend their money?

If someone does not want to buy or drink BMC because of taste, exercise your right to do so. To say that others are making wrong buying decisions because they are uninformed or misled is arrogant, you are upset that they do not agree with you. If you insult and go after someone doing their job, who is being polite, then you have no shred of class at all.
 
Why are we arguing about buying beer on here? Isn't this a homebrew forum? Who even does that anymore?


Buying beer. Pffaaw.

I couldn't agree more. Lets just declare this done for now, until the next time someone brings up the topic. And we can have the same discussion for the hundredth time.
 
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