Aw, crap.Well, when you're a public company, you answer to your shareholders. BUD was getting quite a premium on their price, and rejecting the offer again probably would have lead to a long, drawn out drama that gets hostile and just annoys everyone.
I'd like to say I'll never drink a Bud or Busch again but that would be a stupid thing to say. I can say I'll never drink a Bud Light again because I don't ever drink Bud Light. That's how pissed I am.
In all seriousness it's a sad day for St. Louis. For you Chicago folks, it would be like if the White Sox bought the Cubs. No one wins, right? But in all seriousness, it would be like if Big League Chew bought Wrigley. Who wants to fish for those sticks of gum in those big pouches, right? But in all seriousness...
You know the worst thing about this? For a Belgian-Brazilian company, InBev has got to be the most boring name ever. You can't be like "Yo dude, can I get an InBev Light?" I mean this is the KING OF BEERS we're talking about. The King doesn't get bought. The King sends his big eagle out on the streets to drop huge letter A's on people if they drink InBev Light. You best stay inside with that crap.Damn. I'm thirsty.
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16 comments:
Wow, I can't believe that mr. or ms. loans likes our blog. They probably drink Bud, too.
Yeah, dude, I'm already announced a year long boycott of all AB products. Then, when I went to find out who owns Miller or Coors, I realized they were together and owned by SABMiller. SAB stands for South African Brewers or something.
Is nothing sacred anymore? Screw politics, guns and the economy, we can't even brew our own beer.
I'll have to go local then. The Summit brewery is our version of Schlafly's.
By By AB.
A good portion of the St. Louis people i'm talking to are pretty firm in their stance that they will not drink any product. I'll believe it when I see it. I have switched from a loyal Bud drinker to Corona...I was never much of a patriot anyway...viva la cerveza...plus i'm thinking about going to dos equis, just because that most interesting guy in the world is just so damn...intriguing...no interesting...
Well, I drank my last Busch beer last night. My boycott begins, and conveniently, I will remember when to possibly end it by the 2009 All-Star game in St. Louis. Isn't it ironic, don't you think? Wasn't it iconic, don't you think?
Apparently a lot of people are pissed off by this, and I guess InBev is going to have be sort of delicate in the way they market the former all american beer.
The good news is that there are still some regional, real, All-American companies brewing beer still: Sam Adams, Ying-Ling, Sierra Nevada are the biggest. Although Sierra Nevada seems to have taken a downturn in taste over the past year or so.
I like Sam Adams though.
I don't understand the utility of a boycott. Sure, the old name intills images of powerful hard-working German-Americans settling along side the Mississippi to make beer and fulfill a dream. The new name makes me picture skinny Euro rockers with bright pants and nose rings dancing in a discoteque to early 90's hip hop. That girl is po-i-son.
That being said, our friends who are still employed by AB/INBEV probably would not like us to suddenly stop drinking their products. I'll boycott if they start pulling out or abusing the AB infrastructure from St. Louis, but I will continue to support Bud, Bud Select, and the great Busch Bavarian until then.
Marty I don't know if you were joking or not about the Corona, but isn't AB something like a 50% shareholder of Modelo, the brewer of Corona?
cant remember password. This is Gene
ah yes, now I'm back.
Yeah, Geno, I half agree with you and half agree with myself. This is why I'm only boycotting for a year.
I guess I'm not so sure about this whole globalization thing. Is there more to life than stockholders? I've always been so proud of STL and AB, like the same sentence, and now it's different. STLisans have always paid a premium for AB products, not just because our friends work there but because it was family and locally owned.
Now there's nothing to stop ownership from shutting down STL operations, and if they do, a boycott then would be too late.
In either case, the identity has been destroyed, and I sort of resent the Busch family for not being a little sharper with their stewardship.
I can't keep coming back to this blog if you're not going to add anything. At least subprime changes his content...his rates are always being updated...
Sorry I was gone. Actually Matt it would be like if Wrigley was bought by Orbit or Cadbury purchased Fannie Mae or an American purchased Manchester United, wait a second.
I think the best way to go about this is to drink massive amounts of AB products while not only boycotting but sabotaging InBev products. Oh wait, they make Brahama, nevermind.
What the hell does subprime loans mean? I bet you want a prime loan--well we have one that is just below prime.
The buyout of A-B is more of a psychological blow than a economic one. St. Louis, a town where the citizenry is unsure if they are Southern, Northern, Eastern or Western, has been plagued with self-pity and an inferiority complex since the 1950s; as the city has fallen from the ranks of the nation’s elite. Much of the outcry over this takeover is the loss of the tagline, “Anheuser Busch, St. Louis MO.” I know my self-worth and sense of civic pride are tied up in how we are perceived as a city and A-B was a big important part of that. Unfortunately that is the world we live in and A-B is not the only company that has deserted us. I am just as if not more upset with the Sporting News leaving Our Town, Famous becoming Macy’s, being a one newspaper town, McDonnell-Douglass becoming Boeing, Boatman’s Bank being taken over, the Bowling Hall Of Fame moving to Arlington, TX and TWA being destroyed and losing our hub status to name just a few.
The sad reality is that the global economy we live in has led us to this. If A-B had not been bought by InBev then someone else would have been jumped in with the dollar being so weak against the euro and A-B being so bloated and dependent on an outdated product. Boycotting A-B products only hurts the people we know that work there. I have no illusions that InBev will be gently handle all of the civic good that A-B does in St. Louis. However, even if A-B had fought of this attempt they would have had to do their own massive cuts to protect themselves from being taken over by someone else. InBev bought A-B because their weakest market is the US and this purchase gives them the largest network of breweries and distribution of any American brewery. They don’t want to shut down any of that; they will actually want to expand if anything. The people that will be hurt the most are the corporate bigwigs that lose their jobs, the charities that depend on A-B for a bulk of their donations and Bud Light commercial fans.
Maybe in the end we should drink less Bud and Bud light because their quality has tanked as they have become mass produced crap.
Bernsey! Poignant and well-stated. Comments like that make posting every two weeks worth it.
Yeah Bernsey, great job showing me up. See if I keep drinking Tequiza.
Thanks...
I came on today to post a new line of thought but couldn't figure out how to do that so I'll put it here...
So, I am sitting at the Cardinal game last night watching Carpenter pitch better and better, the defense turn multiple double plays, the bullpen blow another game and Jake Corrigan win the Clarkson Eyecare Vision Challenge and my thoughts turned to this blog and things that amuse or piss me off at the ballpark.
1) What is up with the incessant booing of Manny? I am no big fan of Man-Ram (I hate his hair, pants, partial hustle, etc.) but besides 2004 he has done nothing to Cardinal fans. It was like they were trying to prove how tough of a group of fans they were. On a side note isn't it amazing how quickly the Boston fans and media turned on Manny? What a bunch of hypocritical assholes.
2) I thought I have seen many a stupid person give up sure thing for “what is in the case!” but last night took the cake when the flustered girl gave up two tickets to the 2009 All-Star game for the $45 Outback gift certificate in the case. The crowd tried to help her (they knew the contents) and even funnier was that the MLB All-Star Committee was in attendance.
3) Speaking of the All -Star game, how the hell can this be our first one since 1966? How hard is it to have a simple league wide rotation so that every team gets it once before it goes around again?
4) Funny also how the excavating of the Busch II site started the day the MLB All-Star Committee was here...
5) Is it just me or does the entire DeWitt family look like the creepy cartoon weasels from Roger Rabbit?
6) Can people sit down for more than one ½ inning anymore?
7) How does Joe Mather, a rookie, make the umpire pick up the foul ball that is at Joe’s feet? I would have rung him up on the next pitch.
8) I need to bring a blow up doll to the next game and try and get on camera for the Kiss Cam.
9) How do the great Cardinal fans boo Manny, give standing O’s to Taguchi but last night not even acknowledge Mark Sweeney? Or for that matter Brian Falkenborg?
10) What the hell was Hop Cobbler (Skip Schumaker) thinking when he tagged from first base on a fly ball to right up in the 9th inning of a tie game? Not only was he extremely lucky he was not tagged out but he took the bat right out of Albert’s hands!
11) If you catch a foul ball on the fly and barehanded then you can raise it above your head and take in cheers. If you use a glove you can give a head nod and then sit down. If you pick up a ball from the ground after it hit two decks, four seats, one railing, multiple hands and you pushed a eight year old out of the way to get to it you should hang your head in shame and sit your pathetic ass down. Also, no kids should be allowed to beg, like Oliver Twist, for foul balls that stay on the playing field. Foul balls should be earned not awarded for being small and cute.
12) What happened to the fireworks at the end of the game? That is the perfect situation for them to be used; not just after every win.
Bernsey I love the participation. I always thought it was "Bernsie", but you're the boss.
1) I personally don't mind people booing Manny. You're right, he's done nothing wrong to STL, but if people pay good money to come to a game I have no problem with them letting some steam off and booing someone like Manny. Wouldn't do it myself, but it doesn't bother me.
2) In the old Busch when someone would WANT TO GO FOR THE DOOOOORRRSSSS EVERYBODY!!!, I always hoped the prize was Nachos. They would just show a picture of a goofy guy pooring cheese on Nachos. Classic. As far as the "What's in the case game, I did a post on that too
3) I've wondered that, too. I can understand that you want to showcase new/closing ballparks, but the fact that we went 43 years between is strange.
4) Are we going to have more than a gravel pit behind left field next year?
5) It's just you.
6) It shouldn't be as strict as hockey, but the ushers should be better about controlling flow during important ABs.
7) Agreed.
8) Dude. That is hilarious but I think there's a small chance you'd actually do that... which would be both funny and... very strange.
9) Because Taguchi signed with us and stuck it out in the minors until he could play at our level. And of course, because of this.
10) ...
11) I can see you have strong feelings about this. Kids can get balls for being small and cute. They're just kids. I do like it when the player/line coach etc. gives it to the smallest kid.
12) Hmmm. I don't feel too strongly about this but somehow fireworks at the end of a loss doesn't fit. At least for me. Unless it's like a 12-3 loss.
Thanks for commenting Bernsey. Hope to see you around here again.
Bernsey, allow me (the Loop) to make some comments on your comments:
1) I think, nationally at least, that Manny has gotten a pass for quitting on his team. he faked a knee injury, he stopped running out ground balls and he bashed his team publicly. If they had a jumbotron at Wrigley (I'm glad they don't), I would boo Manny if they showed him on it.
2) I too miss the Nacho guy. Someone once told me that the old door game was not legit. Not legit in the fact that you had to take the doors. I've only been to two games at InBev, but they took the case both times.
3) 43 years is too long. This violates my boycott on talking about the All-star game and the ridiculousness of world series home field advantage.
4) see above
5) I've never seen DeWitt or Roger Rabbitt
6) People can't sit down, because they're not there to watch the game. It'd true at wrigley and I dare say it's true at InBev. people are there to drink. And then pee.
7) Is Joe related to Lowell Mather?
8) Just make sure it's a female blow up doll. Or not. I'm not judging.
9) Who is Falkenberg? Did he go to DeSmet?
10) I didn't realize how many of these points were about the Cardinals. I just don't care about this one.
11) As a kid my glove accompanied me to every game. Nothing would have meant more than a foul ball. Now, unless I bare handed a Pujols line shot, I'd give it to a kid. Even if it was still in the womb.
12) Fireworks=lame. I equate this with the scoreboard that has two giant hands clapping or has the "loud-o-meter". But I'm not a fan of fireworks in general.
Hey Bernsey, thanks for the thoughts. Get bent.
It's already happening:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080812/bs_nm/anheuser_dc_3
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