American Beer Giant Budweiser Bought By Belgium Company
Look, I’m not one to drink Budweiser unless there’s just nothing else around. It tastes like pisswater and makes you feel full and bloated. It’s generally not the smoothest thing in the world.
But this morning on both NPR and WNOX Knoxville’s Talker I heard that they were bought in an almost 50 billion dollar deal with InBev, a Belgium-owned beverage company that produces Stella Artois. InBev claims that none of the US breweries will be shut down, and St. Louis, Missouri will still be the headquarters of the North American region of the company.
The big debacle seems to be that Budweiser, or Anheuser-Busch, is perceived as an all-American beer and by selling out to a foreign company, they’re somehow letting America down. This is also on the brink of the news that the SABMiller Corporation and Molson Coors Brewing will be merging their two U.S. corporations. The man on the radio this morning made a good point though - it’s all about doing what’s best for the shareholders. At the end of the day, they don’t care what America thinks about the deal because they’ve already gone home with the big pay check.
Another caller on the WNOX show stated that Budweiser was America, like apple pie or baseball games or Chevy, or beatin’ your kids with a belt, or living in a trailer… you get the point. I think what everyone is missing is that nothing’s really going to change. If you like Budwieser beer, keep drinking it. It’s going to keep on tasting the same. At the end of the day, the brew is still made in America, still made by American people, and still keeps workers in jobs. The big difference is the profits all go to Belgium.
If that bothers you, then stop drinking it. Support local microbreweries by drinking their brews instead. They probably taste better anyway. Or try out Sam Adams - they have a huge selection of flavors to choose from, and they’re as American and patriotic as it gets for big beer business.
In Holland where Heineken is made, the saying is “Get the head right and the rest will follow,” a pun on the way the beer is served, with a large, frothy head. While I’m a dark beer drinker myself, my very first beer was a Heineken, which should show you how effective marketing can be. I never had a beer at parties or sporting events before that - my very first beer I had was my own choice, and I decided to try something that looked light and tasty, instead of dark and heavy.
