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United States News Title: Budweiser Is Renaming Its Beer “America,” but There’s Just One Huge Problem Budweiser has announced they will rename their beer “America” for the summer months of 2016. While it appears to be ultimately nothing more than an attempt to sell more beverages, the iconic brewer’s new advertising ploy does genuinely feel like it has tapped into a cultural vein, with the 2016 election in full swing — and with Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan resonating with millions. However, the announcement comes along with some cruel irony that may have gone unnoticed by many: Budweiser’s “America” beer genuinely does represent what modern America has come to stand for, but not in the way you might think. Budweiser exemplifies the very reason outsider candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have caused such “yuge” waves this election season. Just a few years ago, the brewer was quietly sold to a foreign multinational company based in Belgium — the same one that makes Stella Artois. You see, Budweiser now represents the offshoring, or selling out, of the American economy. Budweiser, once an icon of the American dream, was sold off to the highest bidder with little fanfare, but Americans are the ones still buying the beer and keeping the company afloat. Budweiser, responsible for over 50 percent of American beer sales, is now just part of a monopolistic portfolio of investments for Belgian beverage conglomerate AB InBev. And unfortunately, selling out, offshoring, and monopolistic tendencies are what America is quickly becoming known for. With America’s newfound love for craft beer, Budweiser is also the embodiment of another newly-christened American value: mediocrity. As “big beer” loses ground to higher quality, small batch brewers, not only is the industry trying to buy out these smaller competitors, it’s also painting craft beer drinkers as unmanly hipsters. Let the Budweiser ad below explain: “A prevailing misperception in beer is that small must be good, and big must be bad. This spot, if you like, is us saying we categorically don’t accept that,’’ Brian Perkins, Budweiser’s vice president of marketing, said about the ad. ‘‘This is about us owning who we are without apology.” There you have it, straight from the horse’s mouth. Beer is big business America, and you shouldn’t let the fact that Budweiser is owned by a multibillion-dollar Belgian multinational corporation get in the way of your American tradition, right? Maybe that’s why Budweiser is flexing its lobbying muscle to gain the upper hand over small brewers by trying to introduce tax breaks for itself with the “Fair BEER Act.” The Fair BEER Act is Big Beer’s counter-legislation to the Small BREW Act, which was designed to promote growth in the craft brew industry. The act is Budweiser’s — and other big beer brewers’ — attempt to flex their corporate muscle to crush the competition. As Eater.com notes, Budweiser wants to embrace another new American tradition: tax breaks that disproportionately benefit 1 percenters. “The Fair BEER Act is essentially a red herring. It proposes an unrealistic amount of tax cuts that predominantly benefit the biggest players in the industry — also known as the only breweries who are cutting jobs and shipping profits offshore (and are, in some cases, owned by foreign-controlled conglomerates),” Eater observes. However, if this election season tells us anything, it’s that the American people are now beginning to reject this idea. When it comes to beer, true “American” values are actually best embodied by the small-time brewers who are revolutionizing the beer industry and giving Budweiser, err AB InBev, a run for their money. The American craft brew industry grows in leaps and bounds; it added $55.7 billion and 424,000 jobs to the U.S. economy in 2014 alone. If America could stop being drunk with patriotism and pay attention to who is actually doing what, maybe we would stop celebrating our decline. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 6.
#2. To: Deckard (#0)
Once you drink craft beers, beers like Bud taste like beer flavored water. I've been drinking DirtWolf by Victoty Brewery. Good stuff
some are good, some have too much hops, too much malt, I think long ago the germans got it about right
#7. To: paraclete (#6)
This from an Aussie? Next you'll say that you gave up buggering sheep in your Wellington's:)
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