There were times years ago that beer company route salesman played rough games with each other’s products. Many decades ago I can recall when the beer in my long neck bottles had gone flat even though the beer was fresh and had been refrigerated. Upon inspection, one could see that the crowns had been cracked just under the bottle caps. I have also seen pins stuck in keg lines, which caused foaming, and Vaseline put on keg equipment. These tricks were mean and vicious, but somewhat manageable by all route drivers. The old adage, “if you are willing to play, you had to be willing to pay,” was certainly true. Funny how your five cases of beer suddenly disappeared under 100 cases of milk cartons!
While all these shenanigans went on at the distributor level, almost all breweries seemed to conduct market practices above board. Sure we were all competitive and sometimes a little over the top, but for the most part, business was conducted with a sense of respect. Having said that, I do remember two occasions when the industry went just too far.
Many years ago Coors Brewing Co. produced, bought and ran ads in a number of major cities, including St. Louis and Milwaukee, stating that both Budweiser and Schlitz contained fusel oil. The ad campaign indicated that this fusel oil was a byproduct of each brands’ brewing process and was a cause of a drinker’s hangover. Augie III immediately called Pete Coors and had the ads pulled because of the damage they could do to the entire beer industry, not just AB or Schlitz. Coors immediately stopped the ads.
In the late 80’s, during Corona’s rapid sales growth, a distributor in Utah started a rumor that Corona was being filled with urine. This rumor spread rapidly and had an immediate negative effect on Corona’s sales. The source of this rumor was hunted down, the rumor was stopped and Corona’s sales began to again increase.
In 2016, one would think that individually, and collectively as an industry, these games would have ceased, but perhaps that is not true. Corona’s success is remarkable and has been for decades. Many suppliers have tried to slow down or mimic this beer giant’s success, but each time they have failed. Now we have learned that perhaps Corona is being undermined.
We all know that ABI sold the US Modelo rights to Constellation Brands, thus enabling ABI the ability to close on Modelo. Since 2008, ABI has lost 10 million bbls. +in US sales and the trend continues. Much of their volume loss has gone to Modelo. Now word comes out from ABI that Corona, which was bottled at one of ABIs breweries, has been found to have glass particles in some of the liquid. This beer has been shipped to the US and Guam.
Some in the industry may think this is underhanded and could well be ABIs attempt to hurt Corona’s sales in the US. It could, but it could also be just another of the many trip-ups ABI has experienced in the US. ABI has underestimated the US market or overestimated their own capabilities in our market. Only time will tell. Let’s hope for now though that no one gets hurt by drinking Corona.
No matter what ABI does, nothing is original except what is forgotten.
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