Will Budweiser Be The New PBR?

In an appeal to market themselves more towards the hip and young crowd, Budweiser is launching their "Grab Some Buds" campaign, culminating on September 29th with free beer samples at bars and restaurants for a "Budweiser National Happy Hour." They're hoping the samples will grab some drinkers in the 21-to-30 set that perhaps have been favoring another brand of American, everyman beer.

Budweiser dropped from 16th to 220th for consumer loyalty among national brands for three reasons: shoppers going for craft beers, cheaper beers or light beers. But on top of the free samples, they're looking to start a Facebook campaign in which people turning 22 and up can get free beer on their birthdays. So would getting free Budweiser on your birthday be ironic, or just financially responsible? Or perhaps both, in which case, jackpot.

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By Jaya Saxena in Food on September 22, 2010 3:13 PM

Comments [rss]

thenewsjunkie

Two words...

Schlitz & Schaeffer

Rocknrope

That's six words.

thenewsjunkie

Two words...

Schlitz & Schaeffer

Eric

You should all watch Beer Wars. It's streaming on Netflix. Really eye opening look into the beer industry and how major brands like Bud are trying to push craft brews out. Did you know Anheueser-Busch has an organic beer? Green Valley Brewing, and nowhere on the package does it ever mention the parent company. But it's still brewed with inferior ingredients at the huge brewing facility in Cali. And they make sure it's on the shelf right next to Bud, so if you say "screw Bud, I'm going to try this new organic beer" you're still buying Bud. Really great documentary.

kcin122

no self respecting hipster drinks PBR anymore.

do you guys even get the point of being a hipster?

Loulou

to be a white piece of shit?

whitecastlerock

Drinking Budweiser and PBR is like riding a bike with training wheels. Real drinkers opt for Ballantine, Crazy Horse-shit that will get you fucked up for next to nothing...

jaycjay

Ballantine is about 4.8% ABC -- just like Budweiser. PBR, about 4.5%. So they're all solidly in the mid range among beers readily available in the US. That 0.3% difference isn't going to have any appreciable effect if you choose Ballantine or Bud over Pabst.

Guest

ahhhhhhaa!! three philosophers is 9.8%.

Guest

a-hem, three philosophers for me.

chuzzlewit

only beer i don't like - and the only one that doesn't like me. i suspect... the beechwood.

cutlass

There is a fourth reason Budweiser dropped in customer loyalty: it's no longer an American-owned company, and its customer base is pretty pro-American.

JacqueMehoff

there's some great local NYS beers out there and it's cheap too. stuff by Genesee/Dundee brewing co. too bad the selection is limited in NYC.

they sell PBR at the whole foods new me, right next to Ommegang and the other belgian brews.

JenChungsBaby

I like Saranac too. We need a beer purity law here in the US. Any beer made with rice should be banned.

JacqueMehoff

ditto, Saranac is an awesome beer. I don't know why they don't get the attention they deserve. they're only a buck or two more at Hannaford's than the cheaper stuff.

mistermarkdavis

I like craft beers and I also like swill. I like schlitz, PBR, and most miller products. I won't drink Coors of political reasons. I don't care for the taste of bud, but their American ale is alright.

handsomedevil

Erm, I thought it was a fact that hipsters prefer PBR as the go-to cheap beer because of the politics of the Busch family or something.

Personally I think anyone who derides Bud as piss or swill is exaggerating more than a little bit. It's actually very pleasant tasting, like the Coca-Cola of beers. It's not what I usually get but on the right occasion it can hit the spot.

jaycjay

"Erm, I thought it was a fact that hipsters prefer PBR as the go-to cheap beer because of the politics of the Busch family or something"

Really? No, it's just because it's cheap. If you ever see a "hipster" or anyone else drinking a PBR in a bar and offer to buy them whatever they want as their next one, I'll wager that 95% of the time they'll choose something else.

In a local bar I frequent, there are two different $2 cans. Most of the time, most people who buy one ask for PBR. If the place is out of PBR, though, they bartender mentions the other option, and it's almost universally the choice. Occasionally they will spend a little more to go to the other hipster favorite: Brooklyn Lager on tap.