Saturday’s ad is yet another one for Budweiser, from 1956. “That Woman Is Real Competition.” DOn’t worry, she’s not being catty, the woman whispering in the ear of her friends qualifies her statement. “As a hostess, I mean.” Not only does she have “more original ideas for table setting than you can shake a stick at,” but she also serves Budweiser, only Budweiser. I’m curious, how many “original” ideas can there possibly be? But only one beer? C’mon lady, change it up a little on the beer, why don’t you?
Archives for January 2015
Patent No. 4071160A: Insulated Beer Keg Container
Today in 1978, US Patent 4071160 A was issued, an invention of Carl J. Vick, assigned to Keg-Tainer, Inc., for his “Insulated Beer Keg Container.” Here’s the Abstract:
A container adapted to receive a beer keg includes a cup-like top section fitting telescopically into the upper portion of a cup-like bottom section having a ring-like rim rolled at opposite points to provide handles. The rim has pairs of slots therethrough for binding straps and also has holes for binding ropes. Each section has an outer skin of a tough plastic with inner and outer walls with the spaces between the walls filled with a plastic foam. The sections are adapted to nest in each other for shipping and handling, and the bottom section has lugs designed to engage the rim of the top section. The top section has an elliptical bung hole to provide access to bungs of different makes of kegs, and a tubular stack may be fitted therein to retain ice for cooling and sealing. The bottom section has a bung access hole in its side which can be sealed by a truncated hollow ball having an opening to receive a tap connected to a lower bung of a keg.
Patent No. 4801462A: Copper Heat Exchange Tubes
Today in 1989, US Patent 4801462 A was issued, an invention of Arthur Tonna, assigned to The Stroh Brewery Company, for his “Copper Heat Exchange Tubes.” Here’s the Abstract:
Wort, heated to boiling in a brew kettle, is continuously withdrawn from the brew kettle and passed through a copper heat exchange coil in an external heat exchanger. Hot combustion gases are discharged at high velocity into direct contact with the heat exchange coil to thereby heat the wort flowing through the coil to a temperature in the range of 220° to 240° F. The heated wort is then returned to the brew kettle and discharged at a location beneath the level of the wort in the kettle. The direct firing of the wort in the copper heat exchange coil provides improved flavor characteristics for the beer.
Beer In Ads #1451: It’s The Little Things That Make Life Friendly
Friday’s ad is another one for Budweiser, from 1941. So if you thought Budweiser advertising with a puppy was a recent phenomenon, your were wrong, as demonstrated by this World War 2-era ad. And not just one, but five adorable puppies. The ads end with this gem. “And there’s always Budweiser — the Friendly Host to a of friends.”
Patent No. 3713839A: Fermentation Process
Today in 1973, US Patent 3713839 A was issued, an invention of Cavit Akin, Jacques J. Delente, Erik Krabbe, and Elmer Lueckerath, for their “Fermentation Process.” Here’s the Abstract:
The process of handling fermenting medium such that the carbon dioxide released during fermentation is applied to the problem of creating an agitation regime for desirable product quality and heat dissipation, and apparatus having depth and bottom shapes that determine the agitation pattern and assist in heat dissipation.
Patent No. 3366033A: Brewing Of Beer
Today in 1968, US Patent 3366033 A was issued, an invention of Laurence Robert Bishop, assigned to Watney Combe Reid & Co Ltd, for his “Brewing of Beer.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the invention is not so much a new method for the brewing of beer — as the title suggests — but instead is “an apparatus for segregating lupulin from dried hops including a pin mill into which the dried hops are introduced and subjected to disintegration and means for conveying the disintegrated material from the pin mill to a sifting means in which the lupulin is sifted from the discarded plant tissue.”
New Study Shows Chemical In Beer Prevents Alzheimer’s And Parkinson’s
A new study conducted in China suggests that “beer is good for the brain.” According to to an article in the Inquisitr, here’s why. “The beer draws its superpowers from hops, the female flowers of the hop plant Humulus lupulus, which are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer. However, apart from contributing to the signature taste of the beer, hops releases a chemical — Xanthohumol — that has the potential to fight off neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.” These findings come from a journal article, with the decidedly unsexy title Xanthohumol, a Polyphenol Chalcone Present in Hops, Activating Nrf2 Enzymes To Confer Protection against Oxidative Damage in PC12 Cells, which was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, published by the American Chemical Society.
Here’s the abstract:
Xanthohumol (2′,4′,4-trihydroxy-6′-methoxy-3′-prenylchalcone, Xn), a polyphenol chalcone from hops (Humulus lupulus), has received increasing attention due to its multiple pharmacological activities. As an active component in beers, its presence has been suggested to be linked to the epidemiological observation of the beneficial effect of regular beer drinking. In this work, we synthesized Xn with a total yield of 5.0% in seven steps and studied its neuroprotective function against oxidative-stress-induced neuronal cell damage in the neuronlike rat pheochromocytoma cell line PC12. Xn displays moderate free-radical-scavenging capacity in vitro. More importantly, pretreatment of PC12 cells with Xn at submicromolar concentrations significantly upregulates a panel of phase II cytoprotective genes as well as the corresponding gene products, such as glutathione, heme oxygenase, NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase, thioredoxin, and thioredoxin reductase. A mechanistic study indicates that the α,β-unsaturated ketone structure in Xn and activation of the transcription factor Nrf2 are key determinants for the cytoprotection of Xn. Targeting the Nrf2 by Xn discloses a previously unrecognized mechanism underlying the biological action of Xn. Our results demonstrate that Xn is a novel small-molecule activator of Nrf2 in neuronal cells and suggest that Xn might be a potential candidate for the prevention of neurodegenerative disorders.
This is not the first time such findings have been studied, so this appears to be yet another confirmation in the growing body of positive health benefits of moderate beer drinking. What the team of Chinese scientists found was a “previously unrecognized mechanism underlying the biological action of Xn,” suggesting Xanthohumol “might be a potential candidate for the prevention of neurodegenerative disorders.”
The Inquisitr concludes:
Hops have been used in Chinese medicine for centuries. However, its efficacy to prevent Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s was discovered only recently. Neuronal cells — which are in the brain, spine, and nerves — are in limited supply over one’s lifetime. These cells are especially susceptible to stress. This stress is thought to be one of the ways brain-related disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s begin.
Beer, as I probably don’t need to remind you, is at least one great way to relieve stress.
Patent No. 3366270A: Pull Tab For Easy Opening Can End
Today in 1968, US Patent 3366270 A was issued, an invention of Nick S. Khoury, assigned to Continental Can Co., for his “Pull Tab for Easy Opening Can End.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the “invention relates to a pull tab wherein in the initial rupture of the container panel, an inward pressure is exerted utilizing the pull tab with the pull tab functioning as a simple first-class lever.”
Super Bowl Advertising Through The Years
The Wall Street Journal, in their Life & Culture section, took a look at the commercials during the big game next week in Super Bowl Ads Turn Serious.
The 100 million-plus viewers expected Sunday will see a host of emotion-rich commercials that tug on the heartstrings or take on problems. Coca-Cola ’s spot will shed light on the rash of Internet bullying while the National Football League will air a public-service announcement aimed at ending domestic violence. Procter & Gamble will re-air an ad for its feminine-care brand Always that tries to fight gender stereotypes and remove the stigma associated with the phrase “like a girl.”
The article also talks about what’s at stake, with a chance to reach the largest audience for a TV event, which last year was viewed by 111.5 million, compared to number 2, which is the Academy Awards broadcast, which in 2014 had 43 million viewers. As a result, “[t]he Super Bowl also commands the highest ad rates. This year, 30 seconds of time costs roughly $4.5 million.”
The article then goes in to give a short synopsis of each major company’s plans. ABI is, of course, the only beer company advertising again this year, and here’s their plans:
Budweiser
Last year’s Super Bowl stars—the Clydesdale horses and an irresistible puppy—are looking to repeat. This year, the Clydesdales come to the rescue of the puppy. Stepping in at the last minute, they save him from a hungry wolf and bring him home safely. The twist: The spot adds extra emotion by using a reworked version of “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by the Proclaimers performed by Sleeping At Last. Is it enough to outdo last year’s spot that had “Let Her Go” by Passenger as its soundtrack?
Perhaps more interesting, the article also includes an interactive Super Bowl Ad-Spending Tracker, which breaks down the history of Super Bowl commercials by industry and even by company over the past fifteen years. For example, here’s the spending trends from the beverage industry, which included non-alcoholic as well as alcohol.
Then here’s Anheuser-Busch from 2000 through 2008, the year they were acquired by InBev and became Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Then ABI spent at least as much, and usually more, in the subsequent years.
Then just for fun here’s the lone ad from the Beer Institute in 2006, which if I’m not mistaken was for Anheuser-Busch’s failed attempt at rallying the industry behind its “Here’s to Beer” educational website.
Here’s the Beer Institute ad that ran during the Super Bowl in 2006.
Patent No. 642460A: Apparatus For Producing Wort, Hop-Beer, Washing Filter-Pulp, &c.
Today in 1900, US Patent 642460 A was issued, an invention of Emil Kersten, for his “Apparatus for Producing Wort, Hop-Beer, Washing Filter-Pulp, &c.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states the “object of the invention is to provide a new and improved apparatus for use in breweries for washing and sterilizing the pulp used in filtering or for mashing and hopping purposes, to agitate and leach the pulverized or ground malt with water for producing wort, and to treat the wort with the hops in such a manner as to produce an unfermented liquor of a high quality and in such a state as to facilitate the fermenting process.”