It is not often that a marketing icon comes to the prairies, but yesterday the famous Budweiser Clydesdales came to town. These majestic, six foot, 1,000-kilogram, flare-panted horses have been a symbol of Budweiser for generations. I remember as a kid watching them, amazed, on TV. Sure it is is a bit hokey, but there is still something kind of cool about them, I think.
They were here to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Budweiser being brewed in Edmonton. Here is a link to the Edmonton Journal story on the photo-op. Supposedly the “Budweiser Girls” (sic) were also on hand but I find that less interesting (and slightly insulting to both men and women, frankly. Do men really choose their beer based upon who has the most attractive models??) I had been invited to the event, but unfortunately my schedule didn’t permit a first-hand look at the horses.
Regardless of what you think of Bud, they have for decades been a leader in creative, memorable advertising, whether it is their hilarious Bud Light Real Men of Genius radio spots, or their ability to craft a distinct, dominating public image. The Clydesdales were one of the first. Distinct, visual and offering implied messages about tradition, craftmenship and quality. Not bad for a bunch of horses with a thing for disco.
Besides, in recent years I have come to respect, in a way, what happens inside the big breweries. I toured the Edmonton Labatt plant last year and learned a lot about how hard it is to make large quantities of beer with consistency and accuracy. I wrote a column for Vue Weekly on my visit, found here. Ultimately the state of the beer market in Canada is complex and cannot be laid exclusively at the feet of the big brewers. While their corporate practices of acquisition, predation and domination are unsettling, we must admit their beer satisfies a good many Canadians. Moving beer palates takes time, education and promotion of well-made craft beer – which I see as my mandate around here.
And we can’t blame the horses for whether we like the beer they haul. Beside, I dare YOU to tell them you don’t like Bud!
July 22, 2010 at 10:34 PM
I have seen the Clydesdales in St.Louis and Orlando. They were worth going to see.
I have to admit that I have purchased a single Budweiser from a young lady at the bottom of the escalator in a large hotel in Las Vegas. I didn’t see a guy in the area that didn’t stop and buy a beer from her.
When you talk with the large brewers, they get ladies from modeling agency to hand out beer. So yes some beer is purchased depending on how the beer dispensing staff looks. I have been asked a few times where the good looking Yukon girls are. We don’t have a budget for that.
Yukon Dave
July 23, 2010 at 10:27 AM
Great post Jason, I agree 100%
July 23, 2010 at 11:02 AM
From http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-6506178/To-brew-or-not-to.html
“In addition, there is one noteworthy example of a Canadian brewer making a rather famous contribution to an American brewer’s image. Shea’s, one of Winnipeg’s early breweries, assembled a team of Clydesdales which became an award winning team on the show circuit. The first of the Shea’s Clydesdales were bred in Arcola, Saskatchewan, but the team was later supplemented with imports. After 1933, eight of the horses were sold to Anheuser-Busch (the remaining horses were sold locally), whose flagship Budweiser brand is synonymous with the image of the Clydesdales pulling the beer delivery wagon. (41)”
July 23, 2010 at 4:08 PM
Dave,
Wow! I did not know that. Thank you for the history lesson. Clearly another example of Americans stealing great Canadian ideas! First basketball, then the Stanley Cup, now the Clydesdales!
Jason
July 23, 2010 at 11:53 AM
I agree about the difficulty of producing the beer made by InBev so consistently, and I would also point out that consumers have no-one to blame for themselves for the style of beer so produced. If people didn’t want to drink beer that tastes that way, they would not buy it, and you can bet your bottom dollar that if people didn’t want to buy it, InBev would change their products in a hurry.
Also, since American Lagers all taste so similar anyway, I don’t see any problem with picking one based on the model, advertising, sports or cultural sponsorships or any other non-beer consideration, based on one’s own determination of the appropriateness of gender sensitivity of marketing efforts.
July 24, 2010 at 2:36 PM
Kinda makes you wonder:
It was the depression, right? What if the glue factory had offered more than the Anheuser family?
From AB Website:
“In the mid-1800s, Canadians of Scottish descent brought the first Clydesdales to the United States where the draft horses resumed their existence on farms. Today, the Clydesdales are used primarily for breeding and show.
The Budweiser Clydesdales
The Budweiser Clydesdales have been the symbol of Anheuser-Busch for more than 75 years. They were formally introduced on April 7, 1933, to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition for beer. August A. Busch Jr. and Adolphus Busch III. presented a hitch of horses to their father to celebrate the day. To their father’s delight, the hitch thundered down Pestalozzi Street carrying the first case of post-Prohibition beer from the St. Louis brewery.”
There you go – straight from the horse’s mouth – so to say…