Anheuser-Busch and InBev Boycott Started
July 30, 2008
To be honest, I didn’t want to write about the InBev buyout of Anheuser-Busch. It’s not so much a story about beer but about business and a sign of the times that we live in today. However, a story posted on our Yahoo group (Craft Beer in MI) made me change my mind. It is written by Roger Simmermaker from HowtobuyAmerican.com . He is calling for a boycott of all A-B products. Now, I don’t plan on drinking A-B products, but not because I’m upset about the buy-out. I opt to support local breweries. I still enjoy a lot of imported beer and many of the craft beers outside of Michigan.
While pondering all this, Mark Brushaber from the Craft Beer in Michigan Yahoo Group posted a great reply and left me with not much else to write. He gave me permission to post his thoughts here.
First, here is the link to the call for a boycott:
http://www.howtobuyamerican.com/bamw/bamw-080726-beer.shtml
And here are Mark’s comments on the boycott:
At the end of the day, what changes? The beer will still be made in the US, providing American jobs. It’s not like InBev will shut down all the breweries, spend billions replacing that capacity in Europe, and deal with the costs and logistics of shipping all the beer back across the ocean to a country full of people they laid off.The federal government will still receive income taxes, because InBev will be taxed in the US on its US activity.Ultimately, the profits go overseas, but inevitably they get reinvested in the US if they see growth here. Toyota’s created tens of thousands of American jobs with their “foreign” profit.If Budweiser sales fall, InBev would, by definition, wind up with excess capacity. That could lead to shuttering facilities - costing American jobs. Did the author of the article consider that bit of irony?More likely, at the same time, the brewers who have recognized the sales boost will need capacity. It’s distinctly possible - in fact a virtual certainty - that some of those brewers would contract the additional capacity.In this scenario InBev would have excess capacity - meaning Sam Adams and others could end up being partially foreign brewed.Seems rather circular, doesn’t it? That’s because the world is round, and we’re in a global economy. The fact that some of our more vocal citizens haven’t figured that out yet doesn’t make it less true.That being said, I’m going to continue not drinking Budweiser regardless of who the primary shareholders are. As long as I can make beer that I like better, why bother?As long as Bells, Founders, New Holland, The Hideout, Grand Rapids Brewing, Schmohz, Shorts, Mackinac Brewing, North Peaks, Right Brain, Sherwood, Fort Street, Grizzly Peaks, Arbor Brewing, Michigan Brewing, Dragonmead, Walldorff, Olde Peninsula, and Arcadia (just to name a few of my favorites) and 50+ other breweries right here in Michigan are making a great (yet remarkably affordable) product, why drink rice water?As long as I can wander into a brewpub and enjoy camaraderie with people who appreciate good beer as much as I do, who needs Bud? I don’t give a rat who owns them. Their beer is swill. Watch people drink it. They actually pour it directly down their throat trying to ensure that it misses as many taste buds as possible. Then they expect me to believe they like it. (I know - I’m preaching to the choir here.)As long as several of my favorite breweries will fill corny kegs for me for $35 - $50, why wring my hands over Anheuser-Busch ownership?As long as the internet lets me map out brewpubs when I’m planning travel to other states, Budweiser -and it’s parents - are irrelevant to me.Hmm. It seems I’ve vented at the expense of this readership. Oh well. Most of you are probably having the same thoughts. Thanks for listening…Onward and upward.Markp.s. Special thanks to Breckenridge, CO for introducing me to the world of real beer 12 1/2 years ago. Special thanks, also, to the gentleman who taught me to homebrew following that trip.I drank nothing but Bud and Pabst prior to that trip. I haven’t bought a Bud since (unless I’m at an event of some sort that has no better options), although I do still tip a Pabst on occasion (like when I need to sober up)…
Posted in Beer News
July 30th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
As long as I can wander into a brewpub and enjoy camaraderie with people who appreciate good beer as much as I do, who needs Bud? I don’t give a rat who owns them. Their beer is swill.
I agree wholeheartedly with this statement. I, too, will continue to not drink Budweiser because I think it tastes like ass. I won’t commence a misguided boycott based on what company ultimately owns them. I don’t drink Bud because, well, there’s so much better beer out there.
July 30th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I may have had an InBev and didn’t even know it. I think they make Stela Artois and I’ve had that once before.
July 30th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
InBev has some good beers in their stable… Hoegaarden is a favorite of mine.
July 30th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Honestly, the only A-B beer I’d like to try is Budweiser made to pre-Prohibition specifications–just out of curiosity, to see what Prohibition did to the “beer.”
July 30th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
I saw a pickup truck today with a “BUY AMERICAN” bumper-sticker. I wanted to ask him what beer he drinks!!!
July 31st, 2008 at 8:51 am
I would also like to take a look at the truck the guy was driving and see were it was made. The perception that you are buying an American product can be misleading. There are many vehicles that are built by more then 50% foreign products.
I to try to support local business whenever I can. I try and look where is the business investing its money. I would gather a guess that 95% of the beer I consume is either stuff I make or Michigan made. I take great pride of the beer culture that we have here in Michigan.
July 31st, 2008 at 2:46 pm
I think people will change their mind when/if they release an awesome Belgian style beer. I can’t imagine that happening soon, but there seems to be a trend of these big beer companies jumping into the craft beer scene.. it’s only a matter of time before they start releasing real craft beer. Interesting topic of discussion… we should discuss over a Michigan beer sometime soon..
August 24th, 2008 at 1:07 am
Allow me to explian Buy American to you folks. While it’s true that hardly anything today is 100% American made, there are still manufacturing plants that support our local Michigan economy. Last I checked, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, etc didn’t build cars here. Moreover, those companies aren’t owned by Michigan-based businesses. Buy American may seem like an over-simplification to some of you, but a multi- paragraph long bumper sticker wouldn’t make much sense either, would it?
BTW, I’ll take a cold PBR or Labatt Blue to any microbrew I’ve ever tried.
August 24th, 2008 at 8:58 am
We have a blog that is based on supporting a Michigan product. I believe we have a good understanding about buying American. We refer to it a supporting local businesses. We actively seek out products (specifically beer) with Michigan on the label. Knowing some of the commentors on this page they also believe in supporting Michigan products.
I have listened to a lot of people complain for years about not buying American. Yet with some it seems to only pertain to cars. Let’s face the facts I spend more money on groceries and beer during the life time of my truck than I do on my Ford truck. So who is supporting Michigan more?
Additionally, I recently saw an “Out of a job yet? Keep buying foreign!” bumpersticker on a truck that had a Yamaha decal on the window.I don’t expect you to have to defend someone who would put that bumpersticker with a foreign company decal on his truck. However, your last line seems to echo the same contradiction. You are accusing folks of not understanding the concept of buying American but saying that you’d take a Labatt over a microbrew. Labatt is Canadian.
August 24th, 2008 at 9:29 am
“Buy American” rhetoric is simplistic for a number of reasons. I feel that it’s more important to make purchasing decisions based on a number of considerations including quality, the scale of the company as well as the company’s social, labor and environmental practices.
For this reason I prefer to support a small locally owned businesses or Fair Trade foreign businesses and artisans that provide just, living wages for their workers rather than an American-owned corporation with questionable labor and environmental practices whose exorbitant profits are lining the pockets of billionaire CEOs.
Just shouting at everyone from a bumper sticker to “Buy American” isn’t sufficient. We should all be looking to support businesses that make quality products and are actively trying to be better corporate citizens, regardless of what country the business and it’s profit center is located in. If we used these standards, we would soon realize how many major American corporations aren’t making the grade.