Here's Budweiser's Super Bowl Ad

Over 10M views since yesterday.

PBR Sold To Russian Company

Iconic Milwaukee-based blue collar and hipster favorite Pabst Blue Ribbon has been sold for $700M to a company based in Russia.

The buyer is Oasis Beverages, a Russian brewer and beverages distributor. Backing Oasis is TSG Consumer Partners, an American private equity firm focused on consumer goods, which will take a minority stake. “Pabst Blue Ribbon is the quintessential American brand – it represents individualism, egalitarianism and freedom of expression – all the things that make this country great,” Eugene Kashper, the chairman of Oasis Beverages, said in a statement.  Pabst has been owned by Dean Metropoulos, the consumer products magnate who recently took over the Twinkie line of products from Hostess Brands with private equity firm Apollo. Mr. Metropoulos acquired Pabst in 2010 for about $250 million, and the sale to Oasis and TSG will be a healthy return on his investment.

Pabst Brewing was founded 170 years ago. Included in the sale are its brands Lone Star, Stroh's, Old Milwaukee, Schlitz, and Colt 45.

NPH For Heineken Light

Stonewall Inn To Drop Guinness Beer Over Sponsorship Of St. Patrick's Day ParadeUPDATE: Guinness Pulls Out Of Parade

Via GLAAD:

The historic Stonewall Inn, the birthplace of the modern LGBT equality movement, will drop Guinness beer from its shelves beginning Monday, March 17 following the beer company's decision to stand by its sponsorship of the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade. The Parade, which is the oldest and largest St. Patrick's Day celebration in the country, prohibits LGBT families and organizations from participating. "The ban on gay and lesbian people marching openly forces me, as a proud Irish New Yorker, to look my five year-old twins in the eye and tell them that the parade organizers don't think our family is good enough to join in the celebration," said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. "By supporting the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade, Guinness is telling its LGBT customers and employees that it supports the parade's discriminatory ban," Ellis continued. "It's time for Guinness, other sponsors and Irish New Yorkers to speak out in favor of an inclusive parade that welcomes the Irish spirit of love and family."

Yesterday Heineken dropped its sponsorship of the parade.

Heineken has pulled its sponsorship of the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade, which prohibits LGBT families and organizations from marching. A company official at Heineken has confirmed to GLAAD that the company will no longer be a sponsor of Monday's parade, saying "we are passionate about equality for all people." However, according to a tweet from CNBC, Ford Motor Company has announced that it will continue to sponsor the parade, despite the ban on LGBT families marching openly.

Here's the statement from Ford:

Ford Motor Company is involved in a wide range of events and organizations in communities across the country and around the world, including long-standing participation in this parade. No one person, group or event reflects Ford's views on every issue. What we can tell you is that Ford is proud of its inclusive policies. Every member of the Ford team is valued, and we provide employee benefits regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation.

RELATED: On Friday, Sam Adams pulled out of the Boston parade.

UPDATE: Guinness has pulled out.

Guinness today announced that the beer company would drop its sponsorship of the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade due to the parade's discriminatory rule that prohibits LGBT families and organizations from participating. In a statement released today, Guinness said: "Guinness has a strong history of supporting diversity and being an advocate for equality for all. We were hopeful that the policy of exclusion would be reversed for this year’s parade. As this has not come to pass, Guinness has withdrawn its participation. We will continue to work with community leaders to ensure that future parades have an inclusionary policy."

Beer Prank

Clip recap:

"Me and the boys played a bit of a joke on our mate Russ. Kegs of beer have been plumbed into every tap in the house, with loads of cameras to catch the action. Took us all day to set up but it was worth it when the icy cool beer came pouring out."

Top comment on YouTube: "It's not a joke. It's a MIRACLE."

Lionel Richie For Tap King

Slightly gay-tinged, yes?

(Tipped by JMG reader Birdie)

Red Hook Beer For WA Marriage

(Via Good As You)

Billboard Of The Day

Today In Mildly Interesting Trivia

(Source)

New Can

This is the first design change I can recall since I had my first Bud a million years ago.

Budweiser For Beards

Via press release from Budweiser:

Budweiser is asking adult men across America to help save one million gallons of water by not shaving in the days and weeks leading up to World Environment Day (June 5). As part of Budweiser's ongoing commitment to water conservation, the Grow One. Save a Million. program allows consumers to get involved and save roughly 5 gallons of water for each shave they skip. Consumers 21 years of age and older can visit Budweiser's Facebook page to make a pledge and share the program with Facebook friends. Participants can commit to a range of options, from a few days to multiple weeks. Ladies can get involved by recruiting male friends or family members. The page also features a daily tracker of the gallons saved to date.

Viagra Beer

In honor of this week's royal wedding: "Created by the Scotland-based BrewDog Brewery, 'Royal Virility Performance' ale is laced with herbal Viagra, chocolate, goat weed and 'a healthy dose of sarcasm,' the company’s website says. Drinking three bottles of the potent brew is supposed to be the equivalent of swallowing one Viagra pill."

The United States Of Good Beer

You folks always enjoy these silly maps, but I'm posting this one under protest as I detest it when beer snobs curl their lips at my Budweiser and stare disdainfully at the taps before accepting my offer to buy a round. "Wait, what do they have that's good?" I feel the same way about coffee snobs who'll drag me five extra blocks to find "something halfway decent." And I don't even drink coffee.

CALIFORNIA: Beer Sellers Oppose Marijuana Legalization Bill

A coalition of beer distributors is opposing California's Proposition 19, the attempt to legalize and tax the sale of marijuana.

On Sept. 7, the California Beer & Beverage Distributors gave $10,000 to a committee opposing Proposition 19, the measure that would change state law to legalize pot and allow it to be taxed and regulated. The California Police Chiefs Association has given the most to the Proposition 19 opposition with a contribution of $30,000, according to Cal-Access, a website operated by the secretary of state’s office. Rhonda Stevenson, the California Beer & Beverage Distributors political action committee’s coordinator, was out of the office on Wednesday. Nobody else from the group was available to comment. “Unless the beer distributors in California have suddenly developed a philosophical opposition to the use of intoxicating substances, the motivation behind this contribution is clear,” Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, said in statement. “Plain and simple, the alcohol industry is trying to kill the competition. Their mission is to drive people to drink.”

Some beer manufacturers have disavowed their own distributors. Sierra Nevada has demanded that their name be removed from the membership list of the above-cited group.

Beer Numbers

(Via - Andrew Sullivan)

Miller Lite Ads: You Are A Cross-Dressing Sissy If You Don't Drink Our Brand

Queers United points us to the below ads from Miller Lite which mock men as skirt-wearing, purse-carrying sissies if they don't "man up" and drink their brand. Transphobia? Homophobia? Funny? Queers United suggests contacting the company to express your displeasure.

Aftertaste

Watch until the end.

(Tipped by JMG reader JM)

Mmm, Clammy

It was launched almost two years ago, but it wasn't until this weekend when I saw their six-story Jumbotron in Times Square that I learned about the existence of Budweiser Clamato. Their press materials claim that beer+clamato is a longtime Mexican tradition, hence the rollout began in Arizona, Texas, and California. The photo I used here was titled "ewgross" on Google Images. I concur.

UK: Cocaine Now Cheaper Than Beer

I don't know if this is related to the economy or not.

Based on reports from police forces, the Home Office said that cocaine is now being sold for as little as £20 a gram in some parts of the country. The most common price for the drug is £40 per gram. Home Office figures for 1998 show the average price was £77. A gram of heroin can now be bought for as little as £25, with the average price somewhere between £40 and £50 per gram. In 1998, the average was £74.

The Home Office figures are based on data collected from police forces and the Serious Organised Crime Agency. According to DrugScope, a charity that provides research and advice on drugs policy, gram of cocaine can make between 10 and 20 lines for snorting, depending on its strength. That means a line of cocaine can cost as little as £1, with an average price per line of between £2 and £4. The average price of a pint of lager is around £2.75, although some pub chains have reacted to the credit crunch by cutting the price of a pint as low as 99p. A glass of wine typically costs £3.50.

I tried the DEA's site to see what the comparative price is in the U.S. but there's some gobbledygook about purity strengths.