I just found this draft of a post that Iwrote months ago never got around to posting for some reason...maybe I was worried about sounding too negative all the time. Still, I enjoyed reading it again so though I'd post it anyway. I don't think I finished it but you'll get the point... No matter how much of a beer purist you are, beer and marketing are pretty much interwoven. There's no point making the best beer in the world if no-one buys it, and even if people buy it now, with so many beers hitting the shelves every week there is no guarantee that they will buy it next week instead of moving on to the shiny new thing.
Even allowing for that truism, beer advertising generally shits me. Most beer advertising is generally designed to push buttons with the audience so the beer drinker identifies with the brand attributes the marketer tries to wrap around the product rather than try and sell a beer. (NB to speak to a beer marketer you wouldn't actually know what they sell...they don't talk about "our selection of beers", they talk about their "portfolio of brands"). This is generally because the vast majority of beers consumed in Australia are lagers and if you could DNA test them you would find there is a greater genetic difference between a kennel full of labradors than between 80% of beer consumed in Australia.
Consequently they can't really talk about their beer other than in the vaguest possible way by saying how "dry", "crisp", "refreshing" or "drinkable" it is and how "little aftertaste" it has (all of which are ways to say "little flavour" without making it sound like a negative).
- I'm a Loyal Queenslander - drink XXXX,
- Had a win at the races and want to show I'm cashed up - Crown Lager,
- I'm looking after myself but still drink beer - anything low-carb,
- I'm a man of discernment who clearly thinks deeply about my buying decisions - Stella, Heineken, Asahi, Becks.
- I'm a man of discernment who clearly thinks really deeply about my buying decisions and I'm different from the pack - Peroni (until it becomes too popular)
- I don't like the flavour of beer but don't want to drink wine coolers or RTDs and still want an alcohol-induced buzz - Corona.
I'm no mathematician, but if I was to express the above observations about beer and advertising using mathematical symbols designed to make it sound scientific and elevate it beyond just my opinion, I would express it this way...
if α = β
and Ω = β
then α = Ω = β
Where α = flavourless; Ω = pandering stereotypes; β = broadest appeal
Which is why 90% of the beer sold in Australia is the same thing, with just the label and ads marking the difference...