Over the last few weeks, ABInBev has taken marketing shots at craft breweries in the same market as ABInBev’s faux craft brands, triggering pushback from both the targeted breweries and the consumer.
Oregon brewpub Flat Tail Brewing accused ABInBev brand 10 Barrel Brewing of using the Flat Tail slogan “Dam Good Beer.” Via Instagram posts, Flat Tail posted images of the local wholesaler driving a semi-truck painted with the slogan outside the Flat Tail brewpub.
Also in the last two weeks, AB InBev brand Karbach Brewing Company has been promoting its new beer, Crawford Bock with billboards in Shiner, Texas that say “There’s a new Bock in town.” Shiner is of course the home of the Spoetzl Brewery which has made Shiner Bock for generations.
Spoetzl Brewery wrote an open letter in the Shiner Gazette which in part said:
“We have heard some chatter about uncommon sights around town last month—three billboards and a concert sponsorship touting: ‘There’s a new Bock in Shiner.’ That’s not Shiner Bock my friends. They are talking about Karbach Brewing Co., which is owned and operated by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, the largest brewer in the United States and in the world. It is not the Shiner Bock that’s brewed here in Shiner at the K. Spoetzl Brewery. This brewery has been providing jobs and giving back to our community since 1909—that’s 110 years. It is not the 110% independent and family-owned Shiner Bock.”
It is clear that ANInBev is getting more aggressive in frontal marketing attacks against local craft breweries.
More details here from vinepair.com
