FOR ALL YOU BEER DRINKERS...
So you think you can tell the diff between them in a blind taste test?...
How many do you think you could get right?...
This article was in the paper and the "ding dongs" did their own test on the radio this morning....Its a show I listen to at work...They had 12 different beers all in styrofoam cups, numbered, and the taste testers were blind folded.....this was at 8 am or shortly after...
Just as the newspaper article stated...they werent able to pick their own brand....One guy picked the brewer, but not the beer...He picked Miller ...said it was his brand, he drinks it all the time...He actually picked the lite beer...he stated he hates lite beer it makes him gag....couldnt tell the diff in a blind test though..
Can you pick out your brew?
By BILL VIRGIN
P-I COLUMNIST
Put samples of half a dozen or so mass-market American beers before a panel of drinkers in a blind taste test, and even the most confirmed quaffers would be lucky to match two to the right brand.
But put half a dozen or so mass-market American beer advertising slogans or jingles before a panel of testers, and even teetotalers with some exposure to media would come close to a perfect score.
Try it yourself:
It's the water
From the land of sky-blue waters
The beer that made Milwaukee famous
The one beer to have when you're having more than one
The king of beers
The champagne of beers
That even non-imbibers would score well on such a quiz (some of you are not just humming the melody of the jingle but finishing out the verse) is testimony not only to the pervasive nature of mass-market advertising channels when combined with a memorable message. It's also evidence of the power of advertising to create brand identity -- and customer loyalty -- out of what is basically a commodity product, in which one brand is largely indistinguishable from another.
Oh, sure, beer drinkers will swear they can taste the difference between the brand they're loyal to and Bud and Miller and Coors and Michelob and Pabst and Rainier and a dozen more beer brands. They can't -- which accounts for the success of the craft brews and microbrews, as well as the imports.
What those drinkers are really loyal to is the image created by the various advertising campaigns.
In a sense it's not much different from the customer loyalty created for brands of gasoline. Although loyalists may claim there's a noticeable difference in brands, there really isn't -- or better not be, if the gasoline is going to work at all with a variety of makes and ages of engines.
What gasoline buyers are really loyal to are location, credit-card programs and price. And while gasoline brands have over the years had some memorable campaigns and slogans, they've been nowhere close to the power of beer campaigns in grabbing a share of the customers' minds and stomachs.
Further evidence of that is provided in two books with almost identical titles published in recent years on the subject: "Great American Beers: Twelve Brands That Became Icons" by Bill Yenne, and the more recent "Great American Beer" by Christopher O'Hara, which, in a bit of one-upsmanship, has as its subtitle, "50 Brands That Shaped the 20th Century."
So what was the secret behind the ability of beer marketers to create both identity and loyalty?
O'Hara credits nostalgia. "Whether it is a memory of your father sipping beer in his armchair, a television beer commercial, or a fondness for a local sports team's brew of choice, there is something about these classic American beers that resonates within us," he says in the introduction.
Both O'Hara and Yenne also credit regionalism, reflecting a time when each region of the country had its own dominant brands (such as the Northwest's Rainier and Olympia, neither of which are brewed in the state today).
"Today's craft beers and microbrews have rich and delicious flavors, as well as exquisite variety," Yenne writes. "Today's mass-marketed megabrews have enormous advertising budgets, ubiquitous market penetration, and a flavor-neutral taste. The great regional brands discussed in this volume had soul. ... The beers themselves identified with their region, and in turn, the people identified with their regional brews."
Some of those regional names have been continued or revived, although under the umbrella of large brewing conglomerates, most notably Pabst. So potent is the combination of nostalgia, regionalism and advertising that people still remember "their" brand, even if they couldn't pick that beer out of a tasting lineup.
By the way, the answers to the quiz above are, in order: Olympia, Hamm's, Schlitz, Schaefer, Budweiser and Miller. If you scored poorly, your beer-drinking and pop-culture credentials will be placed under review. If you scored well, we'll pour you a celebratory mug of your favorite brew. Really, it's your brand, we swear. We know we can't fool you.
P-I reporter Bill Virgin can be reached at 206-448-8319 or billvirgin@seattlepi.com. His column appears Tuesdays and Thursdays.
How many do you think you could get right?...
This article was in the paper and the "ding dongs" did their own test on the radio this morning....Its a show I listen to at work...They had 12 different beers all in styrofoam cups, numbered, and the taste testers were blind folded.....this was at 8 am or shortly after...
Just as the newspaper article stated...they werent able to pick their own brand....One guy picked the brewer, but not the beer...He picked Miller ...said it was his brand, he drinks it all the time...He actually picked the lite beer...he stated he hates lite beer it makes him gag....couldnt tell the diff in a blind test though..
Can you pick out your brew?
By BILL VIRGIN
P-I COLUMNIST
Put samples of half a dozen or so mass-market American beers before a panel of drinkers in a blind taste test, and even the most confirmed quaffers would be lucky to match two to the right brand.
But put half a dozen or so mass-market American beer advertising slogans or jingles before a panel of testers, and even teetotalers with some exposure to media would come close to a perfect score.
Try it yourself:
It's the water
From the land of sky-blue waters
The beer that made Milwaukee famous
The one beer to have when you're having more than one
The king of beers
The champagne of beers
That even non-imbibers would score well on such a quiz (some of you are not just humming the melody of the jingle but finishing out the verse) is testimony not only to the pervasive nature of mass-market advertising channels when combined with a memorable message. It's also evidence of the power of advertising to create brand identity -- and customer loyalty -- out of what is basically a commodity product, in which one brand is largely indistinguishable from another.
Oh, sure, beer drinkers will swear they can taste the difference between the brand they're loyal to and Bud and Miller and Coors and Michelob and Pabst and Rainier and a dozen more beer brands. They can't -- which accounts for the success of the craft brews and microbrews, as well as the imports.
What those drinkers are really loyal to is the image created by the various advertising campaigns.
In a sense it's not much different from the customer loyalty created for brands of gasoline. Although loyalists may claim there's a noticeable difference in brands, there really isn't -- or better not be, if the gasoline is going to work at all with a variety of makes and ages of engines.
What gasoline buyers are really loyal to are location, credit-card programs and price. And while gasoline brands have over the years had some memorable campaigns and slogans, they've been nowhere close to the power of beer campaigns in grabbing a share of the customers' minds and stomachs.
Further evidence of that is provided in two books with almost identical titles published in recent years on the subject: "Great American Beers: Twelve Brands That Became Icons" by Bill Yenne, and the more recent "Great American Beer" by Christopher O'Hara, which, in a bit of one-upsmanship, has as its subtitle, "50 Brands That Shaped the 20th Century."
So what was the secret behind the ability of beer marketers to create both identity and loyalty?
O'Hara credits nostalgia. "Whether it is a memory of your father sipping beer in his armchair, a television beer commercial, or a fondness for a local sports team's brew of choice, there is something about these classic American beers that resonates within us," he says in the introduction.
Both O'Hara and Yenne also credit regionalism, reflecting a time when each region of the country had its own dominant brands (such as the Northwest's Rainier and Olympia, neither of which are brewed in the state today).
"Today's craft beers and microbrews have rich and delicious flavors, as well as exquisite variety," Yenne writes. "Today's mass-marketed megabrews have enormous advertising budgets, ubiquitous market penetration, and a flavor-neutral taste. The great regional brands discussed in this volume had soul. ... The beers themselves identified with their region, and in turn, the people identified with their regional brews."
Some of those regional names have been continued or revived, although under the umbrella of large brewing conglomerates, most notably Pabst. So potent is the combination of nostalgia, regionalism and advertising that people still remember "their" brand, even if they couldn't pick that beer out of a tasting lineup.
By the way, the answers to the quiz above are, in order: Olympia, Hamm's, Schlitz, Schaefer, Budweiser and Miller. If you scored poorly, your beer-drinking and pop-culture credentials will be placed under review. If you scored well, we'll pour you a celebratory mug of your favorite brew. Really, it's your brand, we swear. We know we can't fool you.
P-I reporter Bill Virgin can be reached at 206-448-8319 or billvirgin@seattlepi.com. His column appears Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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yeah! but I can tell Budweiser from Old Milwaukee any day. that's what keeps me from drinking yecchy beer. 0 -
that's kind of a stupid test since most people only drink 1 or 2 different beers. Many beers of a particular type (ex. lager, stout) taste similar.
I bet I could pick out my homebrew though!0 -
theres a big difference between the brands i drink, sometimes bud lite, sometimes miller lite. and the ocasional high life. 0 -
I knew it !!
D.0 -
I don't care as long as your buying[:p][:D][:D]
Don0 -
Bushmaster, that's the reason I drink Old Milwaukee, It is better than all the rest but nobody ever bumbs beer off me. Tom 0 -
Once it is in styrofoam beer is ruined so a taste test is pointless. This is the same with drinking beer directly from an aluminum can. Pour the suds into a glass or drink it straight from a glass bottle [:p]. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by kristov
Once it is in styrofoam beer is ruined so a taste test is pointless. This is the same with drinking beer directly from an aluminum can. Pour the suds into a glass or drink it straight from a glass bottle [:p].
I totally agree! [:)]0 -
It is sorta hard to tell the difference between Guinness on tap (had some tonite! tasty), Guinness in a bottle with the magic widget, and Guinness in a can with the magic widget... 
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Beer takes on a different taste depending on the brewery location (water). I couldn't believe the difference in Bud when I was stationed in Ft. Monroe, VA compared to what I bought in Indy.
However, the worst beer I ever had (much like girlfriends) was absolutely wonderful!0
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