Anheuser Busch and their deceptive marketing

[kombat]

They (AB/InBev) [...] buy out their competitors if they can and reformulate their product for mass production or if they can't do that they try to sue them at every opportunity. Sorry..I recognize these are typical big business practices..but that doesn't mean they're not *********erous.

I still don't understand the argument here. It doesn't stand up to logical scrutiny.

First off, if a small craft brewery is profitable, then why would AB-Inbev buy it just to shut it down? Why wouldn't they buy it and then ... leave it alone? If it's generating money, why would they intentionally shutter it immediately after spending millions buying it? Why would a company so bent on profit and market domination shut down a profitable subsidiary? Just to be mean? Seriously? Come on.

Secondly, why would they "reformulate" the craft brewery's product, if it didn't increase profits? And if they're making the product worse, then shouldn't that decrease profits? If they change something, and more people buy it as a result, then by definition, they've made it better, at least in pure economic terms. In which case, isn't your beef is with the unsophisticated palates of the unwashed masses? How can you blame a company for making its product appeal to the most possible consumers? Why shouldn't they do that, if their goal is to increase profits?

Thirdly, who is AB-Inbev "suing at every opportunity?" Can you give me any examples of utterly baseless, frivilous lawsuits brought by AB-Inbev that are clearly meritless and intended solely to financially exhaust a small brewery through expensive litigation? And today, right now, there are thousands of small breweries thorughout the US that are not currently the target of an AB-Inbev lawsuit, and today's not a weekend or a holiday, so all the lawyers should be in their offices - today's a great "opportunity" for AB-Inbev to sue a bunch more. So are they doing it? Can we expect them to seize the "opportunity" today to sue a bunch more craft breweries? After all, aren't they suing them "at every opportunity?"

This is all so frustrating to read. So much rhetoric and hyperbole that doesn't even stand up to even the most trivial examination.

AB-Inbev is a business. Their job is to maximize profit for their shareholders and keep their employees employed. You cannot blame them for responding to normal market forces. It's simple economics. Unless they're breaking the law, then they're no different than any other major corporation, except perhaps that they're remarkably successful at what they do.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

I can't vouch for every AB product. It seems like Goose Island is business as usually but AB pumped it into their distributor pipeline. But conversely, Rolling Rock was bought out and their brewery was closed down. Can't say if the recipe was tweaked or not but it was rolled into budweiser's plant in Newark, NJ instead of being brewed in Latrobe, PA. So all the crap on the back of the bottle, is a lie if they haven't changed it by now.

And my guess the best example of AB using ligiation to try to inhibit a craft brewery was them sing Dogfish over the trademarking (I think they dtrademarked, maybe it was just use) Punkin Ale and Chicory Stout. Dogfish won because it was a baseless argument, but they still had to pay the cost of going to battle with AB.

 

[Homercidal]

Big Beer buys craft beer companies so they don't have to mess with producing the craft beer on the equipment that they need to make their regular line-up on. They also understand that craft beer drinkers would never believe that they could make a craft beer themselves, so they NEED to buy a craft beer company in order for it to be saleable. (You yourself said you don't support AB.)

I agree with you that I don't support them either, but mostly because I am not all that fond of their beer. Most of it is too light and tasteless. Sometimes that what I want so I will rarely buy a Strohs, or Mich Original Lager, or one of the retro style beers that has kind of made a comeback.

There are plenty of craft beers available in my area. I mean, LOTS. I don't have to do anything special to not support BMC besides just ordering what I want.

But come on, admit it, it's slightly douchey to not even taste a sample of their latest offering just because you don't support them. In fact, it may have been a better tact to taste a taste and then go on a rant about how bad the beer sucks. Or, were you afraid you might actually have liked it??

 

[McMalty]

But come on, admit it, it's slightly douchey to not even taste a sample of their latest offering just because you don't support them. In fact, it may have been a better tact to taste a taste and then go on a rant about how bad the beer sucks. Or, were you afraid you might actually have liked it??

this is a very long thread so i'll just let u know that i already addressed this in previous posts. it's kinda unfair to read the first post and respond solely to that post instead of reading how the conversation evolves, no matter. The reason I didn't want to sample it is b/c i don't support AB and I could see from his persistence that sampling the beer would have just ended up in a pointless disagreement/argument and make an unnecessary spectacle which i wasn't interesting in doing, i just wanted to buy my beer and go home. So no, it wasn't "douchey", it was tactful

 

[passedpawn]

AB employs 15,000 people in the US. I wonder if they are all evil?

I had a bud light yesterday. Went for a bike ride along the beach and stopped at an outdoor burger/beer place. When they are cold, they go fine with a burger. But once they start to warm up (and you can taste them) they are undrinkable. Blech.

 

[passedpawn]

this is a very long thread so i'll just let u know that i already addressed this in previous posts. it's kinda unfair to read the first post and respond solely to that post instead of reading how the conversation evolves, no matter. The reason I didn't want to sample it is b/c i don't support AB and I could see from his persistence that sampling the beer would have just ended up in a pointless disagreement/argument and make an unnecessary spectacle which i wasn't interesting in doing, i just wanted to buy my beer and go home. So no, it wasn't "douchey", it was tactful

You could have just said "no thanks" to the sales person if you wanted to avoid a political discussion. Sounds like you provoked it in the first place.

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?

 

[Varmintman]

AB employs 15,000 people in the US. I wonder if they are all evil?

I had a bud light yesterday. Went for a bike ride along the beach and stopped at an outdoor burger/beer place. When they are cold, they go fine with a burger. But once they start to warm up (and you can taste them) they are undrinkable. Blech.

Funny thing about that. I agree Bud Light has to be drunk at the almost freezing point or it is kind of nasty at least in my book. My home brews though are a better a little bit warmer though. I have one room that during the winter stays right at 40 degrees and I cellar my beer in there. When ever I forget to fill the fridge I just grab one out of there and it is much better tasting :rockin:

 

[Revvy]

I have never seen anything like what you have in those pictures.

What's the event? 50% off everything craft?

I can't possibly imagine that's a normal night, or even a Friday night, in Anytown, USA.

This drugstore has 2 events a month. 2nd Friday is usually a wine event, the last Friday is a beer event. They bring reps in, have tastings and usually discounts on that brewery's beer for that night. The December one was Bell's and they featured some of those new hard to find releases. The one last friday turned out to be cancelled and was from Brewery Vivant in Grand Rapids.

There's at least 12 stores I know of in the Metro Detroit area that have regular events, be it monthly, or quarterly or yearly. You can pretty much attend something in our area every week if you look around enough.

This one does a weekly tasting of something, be it beer, wine, cheese, cigars or liquor. They had a stout and cigar event in December where they put up a heated tent in their parking lot, but i had to work on a sermon that day, so I missed it.

 

[jbaysurfer]

I still don't understand the argument here. It doesn't stand up to logical scrutiny.

First off, if a small craft brewery is profitable, then why would AB-Inbev buy it just to shut it down? Why wouldn't they buy it and then ... leave it alone? If it's generating money, why would they intentionally shutter it immediately after spending millions buying it? Why would a company so bent on profit and market domination shut down a profitable subsidiary? Just to be mean? Seriously? Come on.

Secondly, why would they "reformulate" the craft brewery's product, if it didn't increase profits? And if they're making the product worse, then shouldn't that decrease profits? If they change something, and more people buy it as a result, then by definition, they've made it better, at least in pure economic terms. In which case, isn't your beef is with the unsophisticated palates of the unwashed masses? How can you blame a company for making its product appeal to the most possible consumers? Why shouldn't they do that, if their goal is to increase profits?

Thirdly, who is AB-Inbev "suing at every opportunity?" Can you give me any examples of utterly baseless, frivilous lawsuits brought by AB-Inbev that are clearly meritless and intended solely to financially exhaust a small brewery through expensive litigation? And today, right now, there are thousands of small breweries thorughout the US that are not currently the target of an AB-Inbev lawsuit, and today's not a weekend or a holiday, so all the lawyers should be in their offices - today's a great "opportunity" for AB-Inbev to sue a bunch more. So are they doing it? Can we expect them to seize the "opportunity" today to sue a bunch more craft breweries? After all, aren't they suing them "at every opportunity?"

This is all so frustrating to read. So much rhetoric and hyperbole that doesn't even stand up to even the most trivial examination.

AB-Inbev is a business. Their job is to maximize profit for their shareholders and keep their employees employed. You cannot blame them for responding to normal market forces. It's simple economics. Unless they're breaking the law, then they're no different than any other major corporation, except perhaps that they're remarkably successful at what they do.

I'm not going to waste my time if you think everything I've said is baseless. I'm guessing you know it's not baseless or you wouldn't have bothered to respond to it. What's in it for you what I think of AB/InBev? Why would it be SO frustrating?

 

[thadius856]

AB employs 15,000 people in the US. I wonder if they are all evil?

That's a pretty silly argument.

By that logic, the Empire was not evil because individual Storm Troopers were decent people. And they were the biggest employer in the galaxy!

 

[passedpawn]

That's a pretty silly argument.

By that logic, the Empire was not evil because individual Storm Troopers were decent people. And they were the biggest employer in the galaxy!

Well yea OK.

I'll restate that: if they operate legally, and employ 15000 people, that would be a good thing. That's 15000 families that are paying their mortgage and keeping their kids fed. It seems that large public companies are always maligned by some group.

You could say that AB isn't friendly to craft beer companies, but it seems to me that in the presence of this "evil empire", craft beer is stronger than it has ever been, and in fact is flourishing almost unabated.

 

[thadius856]

It seems that large public companies are always maligned by some group.

Sure. There's a general perception that you don't get to the top without stepping on a lot of people along the way. The American people have been getting the shakedown during this recession, with many large companies cutting benefits, cutting pay, reducing hours and bankrupting pension funds not because they have to, but because it increases profitability. I don't find it unusual that people are more leery of big companies now, because, frankly, they should be.

I haven't researched AB's business practices because I'm not real interested in them. But if they operate anything like the way most insurance companies, brokers, bankers, or large retailers work... there's probably a good chance that everything is not above board ethically.

 

[Brewskii]

I love AB In-Bev!!!

$60/share to $90 and rising in less than 12 mo's!!!

 

[GrogNerd]

I love AB In-Bev!!!

$60/share to $90 and rising in less than 12 mo's!!!

work at the brewery? or Busch Gardens?

 

[jbaysurfer]

Granted if one of the jobs is yours you'll have a different take on it, but 15k doesn't even come close to making this list:

http://nyjobsource.com/largestemployers.html

 

[Cathedral]

Because of this thread I went out and bought the budweiser brewmaster series. The supermarket had them in the craft brew section.

I bought it anyway. And I enjoyed the one I've had thus far.

The thought of admonishing the manager for putting it in the craft section never even crossed my mind.
And that's how simple it is.

 

[g-love]

Because of this thread I went out and bought the budweiser brewmaster series. The supermarket had them in the craft brew section.

I bought it anyway. And I enjoyed the one I've had thus far.

The thought of admonishing the manager for putting it in the craft section never even crossed my mind.
And that's how simple it is.

Funny, I'm going to do the same thing. Now, I'm curious.

And, my .02.... I'll buy beer or any other product I like, regardless of who makes it. The only exception for me is that I really try not to buy from companies who blatantly disregard their effects on the environment or take advantage of the people they employ. Of course, how you gauge that is a completely different discussion.

 

[Brewskii]

work at the brewery? or Busch Gardens?

Neither, but they are a stones throw from where I live. It's hard not to know about them when they are this big of an influence to the local economy.

 

[GrogNerd]

Neither, but they are a stones throw from whee I live. It's hard not to know about them when there this big of an influence to the local economy.

saw you were in Williamsburg

 

[Markd27]

I bought a 12 pack of bud light tonight, just because of this thread.

Wow, you really showed us... Good luck with all that.

I don't have anything against BMC marketing or business principals, I simply dont drink them because to me, they taste like ass.

 

[bobbrewedit]

And, my .02.... I'll buy beer or any other product I like, regardless of who makes it.

And this my friends is why we are headed in our current direction. Tell your grand parents this, ones who've sacrificed for this country...don't blame me when u see them well up.

I've read that this country no longer has the heart to win a war, its worse than that...we no longer have the heart to maintain.

Why care about your neighbor...as long as chickens are treated with respect and we own a hybrid, everything will be fine.

 

[Revvy]

That's a pretty silly argument.

By that logic, the Empire was not evil because individual Storm Troopers were decent people. And they were the biggest employer in the galaxy!

Are Star Wars analogies the new Godwin's Law? It's not too far of a stretch to see the analogy being Germans and the Nazi party.

 

[doctorRobert]

And this my friends is why we are headed in our current direction.

Hypocrit much?

It's actually what our grandfathers fought for. The ability for each and every american to spend their money however they chose too. We all have different values, and as you said, we should respect our neighbors, and their choices, even if their values are different than ours.

 

[bob1852]

Wow, you really showed us... Good luck with all that.

About as much as the guy that protested taking a free sample and, I quote: "instead of destroying this a-hole and embarrassing him in front of everyone, i just threw up my hand and walked away"?

 

[g-love]

And this my friends is why we are headed in our current direction. Tell your grand parents this, ones who've sacrificed for this country...don't blame me when u see them well up.

I've read that this country no longer has the heart to win a war, its worse than that...we no longer have the heart to maintain.

Why care about your neighbor...as long as chickens are treated with respect and we own a hybrid, everything will be fine.

Yikes. I didn't realize my consumer choice was at fault for destroying our country. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

I have to request though, if you choose to quote something i've said, please include the entire quote. Thanks much.

 

[Drookit]

I agree with the OP, AB is evil.

There's something about their beers that give me a headache.

The best thing about being an American consumer, is you have a choice.

Best thing about being an American beer consumer, is we have lots of choices.

If you don't like a product (or a company), don't buy it.

Seems simple enough to me.

For the record, me and my internal organs support the little guys for trying to eek out a place in the land of brewery giants.

Ken

 

[bobbrewedit]

Yikes. I didn't realize my consumer choice was at fault for destroying our country. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

I have to request though, if you choose to quote something i've said, please include the entire quote. Thanks much.

I appologize, I know that was overly dramatic. I didnt mean for it to be pointed directly at you, though it was definately written that way.

And as far as the California comment...it is not ironic at all, get out more, you'll find nut jobs like me scattered throughout the entire country!

 

[Dirty25]

Drink beer whoever makes it and be happy. Yes I don't normally support bud but I am not opposed to it. It's just beer people can we all just get along?

 

[Nightshade]

I appologize, I know that was overly dramatic. I didnt mean for it to be pointed directly at you, though it was definately written that way.

And as far as the California comment...it is not ironic at all, get out more, you'll find nut jobs like me scattered throughout the entire country!

I grew up in Sacramento so I know all about Cali and it's habits which are very much similiar to the AB/Miller arguments against them.

The irony is that someone so set on the rights of the individual would continue to live in a state that is so against personal liberties such as you are proclaiming

 

[g-love]

I appologize, I know that was overly dramatic. I didnt mean for it to be pointed directly at you, though it was definately written that way.

And as far as the California comment...it is not ironic at all, get out more, you'll find nut jobs like me scattered throughout the entire country!

No worries man. I know it's easy to take something that you're passionate about and run with it. No offense taken.