Friday’s ad is our fifth and last ad for this week from Budweiser’s long-running “where there’s life … there’s Bud” series. This one’s from 1957 and is another where the woman looks like she’s kissing, rather than sipping, the beer, as the man watches oer her, smiling, with the empty can in his hand. At least he’s not still pouring it, which is the case in so many of these ads.
Thursday’s ad is the fourth this week for Budweiser in their long-running “where there’s life … there’s Bud” series. This one’s from 1959 and features a night scene on what looks like a cattle drive or perhaps more likely a dude ranch. I wonder how they get the models to make those priceless faces, the man’s smirk (doesn’t he look a bit like Charlton Heston) and her unbridled glee. Then there’s that pour again, the glass already full but still pouring. Surely I can’t be the first person to notice how ridiculously impossible that would be, at least without making a mess and spilling the beer.
This is kind of fun, and certainly an interesting way to reuse discarded beer cans. Red Stripe is apparently launching a marketing campaign under the banner “Make with a Red Stripe” and this is the first one. Below is the description from YouTube and the video itself is below here. And a hat tip to Adam for the link.
Make Something from Nothing, the first of a series of cultural projects called ‘Make with a Red Stripe’, features a unique sound sculpture created by sound artist Yuri Suzuki, in collaboration with DJ Al Fingers, singer/songwriter Gappy Ranks and designer Matthew Kneebone.
The 2.5 metre high, fully functioning sound sculpture is made using thousands of recycled Red Stripe beer cans partly collected at this year’s Notting Hill carnival. The project celebrates the DIY culture of the brand’s Jamaican roots, with Reggae, Dub and Jamaican music influences as well.
Make Something From Nothing debuts on 16th November with an exclusive launch party at Village Underground. Visit Facebook for more information.
Wednesday’s ad is again for Budweiser, still another in their long-running “where there’s life … there’s Bud” series. It looks like that’s our theme this week. In this one, a man stares greedily at the beer being poured into the glass, while spearing his Thanksgiving ham. But man, oh man, that’s a scary looking stare. And this is also common for these ads. Notice how the glass is already full but there’s a steady stream still pouring out of the can? How can 12 ounces of beer have already been poured into the pilsner glass and yet there’s still quite a bit left in the can? Because if it was almost empty, the stream from the can would be a dribble, at best, wouldn’t it?
Ah, I knew it had been too quiet lately. Most of Alcohol Justice‘s press recently has been beating the same old dead horses. But today they tweeted out the following:
“every day is worth celebrating responsibly.” Diageo reveals its true goal…everyone should #drink #alcohol every day. http://bit.ly/Ky7MM
Quite a “gotcha,” right? Hardly, more like an abject lesson in how to twist words to your own agenda. Silly, when you really think about, but they’ve never been above shameless grandstanding and using whatever means necessary to press their anti-alcohol agenda.
First of all, the link takes you to an op-ed piece entitled Imports from China are good for Canada that has nothing whatsoever to do with Diageo or alcohol on any level. An honest mistake, most likely, but it still makes them seem — let’s put it charitably — less than professional. We all mistakes — I make them all the time — but I don’t have a staff of zealots at my disposal to keep me from making the obvious ones.
The quote they take issue with appears to be from a press release from April (way to be timely!) about a product I’m not particularly thrilled about either: Smirnoff Ice Black. In the press release, SMIRNOFF© Announces Newest Addition, SMIRNOFF ICE© Black, in Time for Spring, they end with the following, seemingly innocuous, statement. “As always, SMIRNOFF ICE reminds all legal drinking age adult consumers that every day is worth celebrating responsibly.”
To Alcohol Justice, that’s proof positive of Diageo’s evil intent, that Diageo’s “true goal” is to persuade every man, woman (and probably children) to drink alcohol every single day. Oh, the horror! My first thought, of course, is so what? A drink a day for an adult is not exactly the horror they believe it to be, and despite their unreasonable opinion to the contrary, would be quite healthy for a majority of persons, and would provide health benefits to boot. Meta-studies have shown that a person engaging in responsible drinking (even defined as modestly as two drinks for a man and one for a women per day) will most likely live longer than a person who does not drink at all.
But that aside, saying “that every day is worth celebrating responsibly” is NOT the same as saying everyone MUST drink every day. It’s saying that it’s “worth celebrating,” which is very different. Every day is worth celebrating something, but that doesn’t mean you will or should do so. You probably won’t, if you’re a typical person with a job, a family and other obligations. We’d all love to have the kind of life that would allow us to have a holiday-like celebration, complete with cake and beer, every single day, but seeing as that’s pretty unlikely for most of us, it’s pretty clear that’s not what Diageo is suggesting. Seriously, you’d have to be pretty jaded and filled with hatred to think that’s what they meant.
NPR’s Planet Money blog had an interesting report today entitled What America Spends On Booze, breaking it down with some recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and some great infographics by Lam Thuy Vo of NPR.
As you can see, we drink outside our homes almost twice as much as we did three decades ago, though as Lam Thuy Vo notes, that’s a little deceptive at least partly because the price of alcohol in bars and restaurants has skyrocketed while real prices have fallen, when adjusted for inflation.
Also, what we spend our alcohol dollars on has likewise shifted over the last thirty years. While beer is still on top, it has slipped a little. Wine is way up, while spirits have significantly dropped.
The one thing I’m a bit surprised about is the drop in beer. Since the price of craft beer is generally higher than mainstream adjunct lagers, I would think that the higher dollar rings would cause the figures for beer to rise as the percentage of craft beer has increased. Perhaps the price wars among the big players that have kept the price of beer artificially low for so long have contributed, or at least partially account, for the extended dip.
For our 65th Session, our host, Nate Southwood writes about more than just beer at his Booze, Beats & Bites. In addition to music and food, his triple crown includes beer, of course, and the topic he’s chosen is “So Lonely,” meaning going to the pub to have a beer alone. Here’s how he describes what he means:
Speaking of fun, going to the pub with a bunch of mates is great… you have a few beers and a laugh, generally a fun time and all.
I love going to the pub with mates but sometimes I go to a pub alone and I enjoy it.
Other people say I’m weird for this as there seems to be a stigma attached to being in the pub alone — alcoholism.
There are many reasons why I go to the pub alone.
- Sometimes I just want to spend some quality time alone that isn’t at home.
- Sometimes I’m walking home and fancy a pit-stop.
- Sometimes my mates are all busy with their girlfriends/wives/children and I want a pint.
- Sometimes I just fancy going to the pub and observing the bizarre people around me.
- Sometimes I want to sit down and write blogs on my tableaux while having a pint.
- Sometimes I just want to play angry birds while having a pint.
- Sometimes I just want to prop myself at the bar and discuss beer with the bartender.
- Sometimes I want to explore pubs that I’ve never been to before but my mates don’t want to.
- Sometimes I’m just a miserable bastard and don’t want to socialise but want a nice pint.
The way I see it is that I love beer and pubs and I don’t see why I should only go to the pub when I’m with other people.
Am I weird for going to the pub alone?
How do you feel about going to the pub alone? Do you feel it’s necessary to be around friends to spend time in a pub?
So that’s “So Lonely.” It’s funny that given the obvious connection to the Police song So Lonely, both Stan and I both instead thought of George Thorogood’s I Drink Alone and its quintessential philosophy “You know when I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself.”
So that sounds like an interesting, albeit lonely, task. Besides, given that it’s two days after July 4, you’ll probably be craving some “alone time.” Just remember not to drunk type your blog post on July 6 when you share your isolated drinking experiences.
Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser, yet another in their long-running “where there’s life … there’s Bud” series. It frankly looks a little too close to dark to still be out on a cycling picnic. They both look like they bought their hair helmets from the same wig shop, they’re the same color and neither look they would be effected in the least by anything less than a gail force wind. He’s still pouring beer into that full beer glass as she sips from it. Honestly, it looks more like she’s kissing it than actually drinking from the glass. So I doubt it won’t spill over before he’s done pouring.
Who knew that Betty Crocker even knew about beer? Today, I saw that they posted 35 Beer Terms Every Beer Lover Needs To Know, and it’s not a bad list. Of course, it helps that it was compiled by a Cicerone — Michael Agnew. But beyond that, there’s a whole section on Betty Crocker’s website dedicated to beer entitled Betty’s BrewHouse. Way to stay hip and with it, Betty. I guess she’s not just about cakes and brownies anymore.
Today in 1961, Kuwait gained their Independence from the United Kingdom.
Kuwait
Kuwait Breweries
Kuwait Brewery Guides
Other Guides
Guild: None Known
National Regulatory Agency: None
Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Not Known
Drunk Driving Laws: Zero Tolerance
Alcohol Consumption By Type:
Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):
WHO Alcohol Data:
Patterns of Drinking Score: 2
Prohibition: Yes, alcohol currently banned under Sharia law
