The Flack

This weblog attempts to shine a brighter light on the subtle role public relations plays in politics, culture, media, business and sports. Through greater transparency, the author hopes to make the profession better understood and perhaps more widely appreciated.


Anyone who has a son or daughter in college should have heard of the game “Beer Pong” or, as it’s sometimes called, “Beirut.” (Don’t ask.) It was therefore not surprising that Sunday’s New York Times page one story on the game, whose goal is to drive one’s opponent to drink, was the paper’s most e-mailed story of the day.

The story revolved around how marketers were hopping on their Clydesdales to capitalize on this brewing phenomenon. The nation’s #1 beer meister Anheuser-Busch even re-dubbed the game “Bud Pong” until, of course, August Busch IV came to his PR senses. The ensuing letters-to-the-editor summed up why.

With all the scrutiny the alcoholic beverage industry has endured over the issue of under-aged drinking, which clever marketer thought this endorsement was a good idea, especially given all the millions the industry has spent to forestall any regulatory action against it? Yesterday, to its credit, Anheuser-Busch pulled the stopper.

Posted in Budweiser, Buzz Marketing | No Comments »

American for Beer

Posted by Peter Himler on 11th July 2005

Example

Taking a page out of the long-running Foster’s advertising campaign, the folks at Anheuser-Busch seem to have gone too far. Today’s New York Times reports that Budweiser’s makers have used marketing materials to deride competitors SAB Miller and Molson for being foreign-owned. (I think The Times called it “jingoism.”) Now that this mean-spirited campaign has given its makers a black eye in the media, look for the St. Louis-based brewer, founded by Germans, to do some serious backtracking.

Posted in Budweiser | No Comments »