quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
Part of their problem here is that people who left Bud Light will never go back because they found better alternatives.

Bud/Miller/Coors/etc. have been coasting for a couple generations now almost solely on brand loyalty. (Like our domestic auto makers.)

All it took was something like this to force some of their loyal customers a little out of their comfort zone into finally trying something new, and realizing there are many better options out there.


My current girlfriend used to be a bartender at a newly opened craft beer bar. They had ~40 beers on tap at any given time. A decent percentage of folks, when it came their turn to order, would squint at the massive beer list displayed on TV screens above the bar, and say something like:

"Uh... Um... Hmm... Do you have Bud Light?" (Or sometimes Miller Light. Or Corona.)

Do You Have Bud Light? became the underground motto/running joke among the bartenders.

Several dozen different high quality beers to try. Any style of beer you'd want, from all over the world, and guaranteed to have a beer for any taste. But a big chunk of the population wouldn't dare venturing away from their mediocre go-to domestic rice pop beer that they've been drinking since stealing some out of their dad's garage fridge back in junior high.

Luckily, they always had a selection of lighter lagers on tap that they could recommend with "No, but if you like Bud Light you'd also like...", which was an easy means to broaden horizons.


Similarly, when I first met my ex-wife, she adamantly told me that she didn't like beer. She'd tried it. She didn't like it. The end. When I pressed her on it, because surely among the thousands of brands and styles out there had to be at least one she'd like, she admitted that she had only ever tried Miller and Budweiser. And that was over a decade beforehand. So she had tried some beers, they sucked, therefore all beer must suck. And that was that for years. But once I convinced her to try something that wasn't a crappy mass-produced domestic, suddenly she discovered she really liked beer!