Proud to be American: Red neck, white socks and PBR!
Posted on 07/17/2008 7:39:44 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
(Pabst touts ascent to No. 1 American-owned beer maker)
Pabst Brewing Co. doesn’t operate breweries anymore, but it wants to be the first choice for every red-blooded American beer drinker.
The company, which owns dozens of beer brands and contracts with MillerCoors LLC to create most of its brews, is staking its claim as the largest remaining American-owned beer maker.
Just days after industry giant Anheuser-Busch Cos. announced its sale to InBev, a European brewer, Pabst is conducting an online survey, asking customers about it.
“Did you know that after this sale is completed, Pabst Brewing Company will be the largest remaining American-owned brewery?” the survey asks. “How likely is this information to affect your decision to purchase beer? Would information about Pabst’s American ownership on packaging, like bottles or cans, impact your decision to purchase our products?”
Executives at Pabst, based in suburban Chicago, and spokesmen for St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.
But a Pabst statement noted that it will be “the last of the famous iconic U.S. brewers to be fully independent and American-owned.”
“Most of our brands (Pabst, Schlitz, Stroh, Schaefer, Rainier, Olympia, and others) have been around since the 1800s,” the statement said.
It seems clear that Pabst is poised to snatch at the patriotic appeal long used by Anheuser-Busch.
That’s probably a smart strategy, given that some drinkers of Budweiser, the Anheuser-Busch brand that’s been sold with flag-waving ads, aren’t happy about the King of Beers being acquired by a company based in Belgium, said Mike McCarthy, an associate professor of marketing at Miami (Ohio) University.
“I do think Budweiser has cultivated a very, very strong patriotic, all-American beer image for many, many years,” McCarthy said. “I think there is a little bit of a sense that Bud is a quintessential all-American beer.”
However, with Budweiser and other Anheuser-Busch brands being owned by a European company, calling those brands all-American beers “will be a little hard to say with a straight face,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said even if just 1% of Budweiser’s customers dropped the beer and switched to Pabst Blue Ribbon, that would bring a huge boost for the brand. Its Americana image was immortalized in the 1973 Johnny Russell song “Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer,” and later in the 1992 Mary Chapin Carpenter song, “I Am a Town.”
Budweiser has seen declining sales for several years as beer drinkers turn to Bud Light and other low-calorie brews. But Budweiser in 2007 still posted sales volume of 24.6 million barrels, accounting for 11.3% of the U.S. market, according to trade publication Beer Marketer’s Insights.
Pabst Brewing, meanwhile, posted sales of 6.1 million barrels, or 2.8% market share, for all of its brands.
Anheuser-Busch’s 2007 market share was 48.2%, while Miller Brewing Co. and Coors Brewing Co., which have since combined to form MillerCoors, posted a 29.5% market share. MillerCoors is a 50-50 joint venture of London-based SABMiller PLC and Molson Coors Brewing Co., which is based in Denver and Montreal.
Pabst’s possible patriotic appeal could be seen as a bit ironic, given that its beers are made by MillerCoors, which is owned by one company based in Great Britain and another company that is co-based in Canada. Pabst, owned by the California-based Kalmanovitz Charitable Trust, closed its Milwaukee brewery in 1996 and shuttered its last remaining brewery in 2001 after hiring Miller to brew its brands. Pabst moved its offices from San Antonio, Texas, to Woodridge, Ill., in 2006.
Another irony: Anheuser-Busch in 2005 aired a TV spot that featured its employees talking about how they’re proud to serve “the only major American brewery that’s still American-owned,” profits from which stay in the United States.
The spot was a not-so-subtle dig at Coors, which earlier that year had merged with Canada’s Molson Inc., and Miller, which was sold in 2002 to South African Breweries PLC, which then changed its name to SABMiller.
In 2004, Anheuser-Busch put up posters in liquor stores and other retail outlets saying Miller is owned by “South African Breweries.” U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman ordered the posters be taken down, saying they were inaccurate because Miller was actually a subsidiary of SABMiller.
Beer Ping!
Oh, Oh. There goes my Bud.
But Pabst??????????
Oh, Lord.
:-)
I think I’ll drag out the carboy and make a batch from scratch! :)
drink yuengling
LOL
It’s the height of berry season here. We’re making all of our wines for winter ‘09.
No, it was immortalized in David Lynch's 1986 noir classic, Blue Velvet [with Kyle MachLachlan as Jeffrey Beaumont and Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth]:
Frank Booth: What kind of beer do you like to drink, neighbor?Jeffrey Beaumont: Heineken.
Frank Booth: Heineken? F*ck that sh*t! Pabst Blue Ribbon!
This year I’m doing jellies, but I usually make various liquors in August to steep until Christmas. (Kahlua, Berry Bounce, etc.)
So far, I’ve got Strawberry Jam and Champagne Current jelly put up. Next comes the hot pepper jelly...everyones favorite.
Ritz cracker. Cream cheese. Pepper jelly. YUM! :)
Too bad that Pabst sucks. Luckily, there are still plenty of quality American beers, such as Summit which is based right here in St. Paul. I also like Sam Adams and Yuengling, both of which are based in the U.S. still. However, a lot of American beers I drink, including my personal favorite, Leinenkugel, are now owned by foreign companies. That really doesn’t bother me, to be honest, but it’s relevant to the topic at hand.
What’ll you have? Pabst Blue Ribbon.
What’ll you have? Pabst Blue Ribbon.
What’ll you have? Pabst Blue Ribbon...
Pabst Blue Ribbon Beeeeeeeeeeer!!!
I remember that jingle well!!!
Sounds good to us and....look at the joy at that big family dinner table!!!
PBR is making a comeback amongst urban hipsters who see it as ironic.
A brewer that brews nothing is the biggest. Ain’t that a metaphor for the state of the nation.
Besides, I thought Sam Adams was the biggest.
Having grown up there, I remember being a little sad when the last brewery (I think it was Miller) sold to an out of town company. So now not only are they not Milwaukee-owned, but most of them are not US-owned... sad.
Carolyn
I actually liked PBR better than the other mainstream brands.
Please report back if it tastes like something other than diluted urine.
‘cuz that’s what it tasted like in the early 80’s, last time I had it.
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