Beer Blast: The Inside Story Of The Brewing Industry's Bizarre Battles For Your Money

In Beer Blast, Philip Van Munching Takes You Behind The Scenes Of The Massive, Cutthroat, Increasingly Embattled Beer Industry. He Dissects In Colorful Fashion All The Brewing Fads And Follies Of The Past Two Decades, Including The Overhyped (and Sometimes Downright Silly) Product Claims, Like Beechwood Aging And Coors's Rocky Mountain Water, The Would-be Fads That Fizzled (dry Beer, Ice Beer, Clear Beer), The Weird Ad Gimmicks (some Of Which Worked), From Spuds Mckenzie To The Swedish Bikini Team, And The Microbrew Revolution Now Being Co-opted By Phony Micros Such As Red Dog (really Brewed By Miller). Ever Wonder How Malt Liquor Became The Drink Of Choice For Inner-city Gangs? Or How Sam Adams Boston Lager - Brewed In Pittsburgh - Can Get Away With Its Colonial Heritage Pose? Van Munching Knows And Tells. The Marketing Hotshots Are Squandering Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars On Hype, Fads, Gimmicks, And Just Plain Dumb Ideas In The Ongoing Beer Wars. And While They're Fun To Laugh At, Anyone In Business Can Also Learn From Their Idiocies. Among The Lessons: When Launching A New Product, Think Small; Beware Of Minor Changes In Your Quality Formula - They Add Up; Don't Tinker With A Marketing Plan That Works; And Never Forget Your Key Ingredient, The Romance Of The Product. The Philly Keg Party, Billy Carter's Near Miss, And Al Capone's Bathtub: A Brief History Of Beer In The U.s. -let There Be Lite. -take Me Out To The Beergame. -the Wisconsin Hare And The Rocky Mountain Tortoise. -mexican Soda Pop. -sam Adams: Brewer, Patriot, Pain In The Ass. -heineken Light, Heineken Chunky Style. -beerbarians At The Gate. -the Search For The Next Big Thing, Ii: Dry Ice In The 'hood. Philip Van Munching. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 277-289) And Index.

Author : Van Munching, Philip.

Publisher : Times Business

Published Year : 1997

Edition : 1

Format : print - Hardcover, 309 pages

Subject : Beer industry--History, Beer industry--United States--History--20th century, Brewing industry--History, Brewing industry--United States--History--20th century, Advertising--Beer--History, Advertising--Beer--United States--History--20th century, Competition--History, Competition--United States--History--20th century, HD9397.U52 V36 1997, 338.4/766342/0973

Language : English

Dimensions : x, 309 p. ; 25 cm.

ISBN : 0812963911

ISBN13 : 9780812963915

Overview :

In Beer Blast, Philip Van Munching takes you behind the scenes of the massive, cutthroat, increasingly embattled beer industry. He dissects in colorful fashion all the brewing fads and follies of the past two decades, including the overhyped (and sometimes downright silly) product claims, like "Beechwood Aging" and Coors's "Rocky Mountain water," the would-be fads that fizzled (dry beer, ice beer, clear beer), the weird ad gimmicks (some of which worked), from Spuds McKenzie to the Swedish Bikini Team, and the microbrew revolution now being co-opted by "phony micros" such as Red Dog (really brewed by Miller). Ever wonder how malt liquor became the drink of choice for inner-city gangs? Or how Sam Adams Boston Lager - brewed in Pittsburgh - can get away with its "Colonial heritage" pose? Van Munching knows and tells. The marketing hotshots are squandering hundreds of millions of dollars on hype, fads, gimmicks, and just plain dumb ideas in the ongoing beer wars. And while they're fun to laugh at, anyone in business can also learn from their idiocies. Among the lessons: When launching a new product, think small; beware of minor changes in your quality formula - they add up; don't tinker with a marketing plan that works; and never forget your key ingredient, the romance of the product.