Anheuser purchased a brewery that was going bankrupt, he could never have imagined that it would one day grow into the largest brewing company in the world. In 1869, Mr. Anheuser’s son-in-law, Adolphus Busch became a partner in the business and immediately started touring Europe studying brewing methods and focused on the success of a popular style known as Bohemian lager (Anheuser-Busch – Wikipedia).
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Today Anheuser-Busch operates 12 breweries throughout the U.S. , has a 48. 9% market share in beer sales, employs approximately 114,000 workers worldwide (Anheuser-Busch InBev – In a few facts) and produces approximately 11 billion bottles and cans of beer a year (Anheuser-Busch – Wikipedia). In 2008 the Busch family reluctantly sold to a Brazilian-Belgian brewing company by the name of InBev. This merged two of the top four breweries in terms of revenue in the world. Even though Anheuser-Busch claims to run a socially responsible corporation they continue to market products to underage drinkers.
Albeit they claim their intent is not towards an underage market, beer sales would decline drastically with the elimination of underage drinking. Their slogan “Drink Responsibly” is directly aimed at the younger generation who binge drink. Your typical responsible adult should know that alcohol is OK in moderation and doesn’t need to be reminded to be responsible. By continuing to release products that are aimed at a sub-21 year old crowd, Anheuser-Busch is stretching their market share.
Products such as B-to-the-E beer (released in 2005) and Spykes (released 2007) were pulled rom distribution, only after industry watchdogs raised concerns with mixing alcohol and energy drinks. B-to-the-E beer was probably the first beer mixed with an energy drink. The effects of mixing depressants and stimulants are extremely dangerous. This allows the person to feel as if they can drink to excess and be fine because the caffeine keeps them alert. By doing this they just end up drinking more than they would if the caffeine was not present. Once the caffeine wears off they will be drunker than if they would have just drank beer.
Another danger with these beverages is the increased alcohol by volume. A single serving of Budweiser is 5% alcohol whereas a single serving of B-to-the E beer contains 6. 6% and Spykes clocked in around 12% (Beer Advocate). The higher alcohol, combined with the effects of an energy drink will get the average person drunk quicker than drinking Budweiser or Bud Light. Spykes is slightly different from B-to-the-E beer in the fact that it was packaged in a 2 ounce bottle and was designed to add flavor to your beer. It even had various flavors that appealed to a young female demographic.
These different flavors were named ‘Spicy Mango’, ‘Hot Melons’, ‘Spicy Lime’, and ‘Hot Chocolate’. There probably aren’t too many male drinkers of legal age interested in adding those flavors to their beers. Another issue arises from the small 2 ounce bottle size. It allows the drink to be easily concealed and done as a shot wherever the person may be. It would be awfully easy to sneak into a school sporting event or dance. Even though it was not intended as a shot, it produced the same effects as one. Since Spykes was packaged in such a small bottle using vibrant colors to catch the eye, the legal warnings were hard to read.
They were often printing so small one would need a magnifying glass to read them. This violated the laws set forth by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). Some of the warnings, including the one on the ‘Spicy Lime’ bottle were printed in silver letter on a lime green background making it indistinguishable. The TTB standards for readability require a minimum font size, a maximum number of charaters per inch, and a contrasting background. Considering the colors used and small print, one could be led to believe that Anheuser-Busch designed it that way for potential underage consumers.
Today, Anheuser-Busch does not sell any alcoholic energy drinks. However, they do distribute the popular energy drink known as Monster. This was a move to diversify their product line when they signed a deal with Hansen Natural Corporation in 2006. Monster is the 2nd most popular energy drink in the U. S. with a 19. 4% market share. (Staff, 2006) Just like many other big companies, Anheuser-Busch spends a nice sum of money paying for lobbyists to influence the government on decisions that would affect them. In the past 8 years, Anheuser-Busch has spent a total of $14,364,228. 0 on funding 9,733 different politicians and 41 ballot measures.
Dating back to 2008, Anheuser-Busch has spent $4,525,565 more than MillerCoors, their biggest competitor in the industry. Some of the politicians that Anheuser-Busch has helped fund are former Illinois Rod Blagojevich ($65,555 from 2004-2008), former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ($65,800 from 2003-2006), and Missouri governor Jeremiah Nixon ($65,075 from 2004-2010). Coincidently all three of these politicians have been surrounded by controversy (Anheuser Busch | Follow the Money).
Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and bribery. Schwarzenegger has been accused of sexual misconduct by several women. Nixon has been involved in controversial decisions regarding desegregation, capital punishment, and abortion. How can a company such as Anheuser-Busch continue to support such questionable political behavior? Although there is nothing unethical about paying lobbyists, it does prevent the growth of smaller breweries on the free market.
Local breweries who make great beer can’t afford to spend millions of dollars to make their voice heard in Washington DC. Instead they focus on spending their money on making a better product and being social responsible. Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, Ohio, for example, operates a shuttle bus that reuses the vegetable oil from the kitchen, brewing grains are fed to local livestock or used in baking, and all promotional materials are printed on recycled paper. Caffeinated alcohol drinks are still quite controversial today.
Products such as Four Loko and Moonshot have recently come under fire after nine college students overdosed at a party on the campus of Central Washington University. Four Loko announced they are going to reformulate their product by removing the caffeine a day before the FDA was about to ban it. On November 17th, 2010 the FDA ruled that caffeine is an unsafe additive to alcoholic beverages and sent letters to four companies announcing their decision. In conclusion, Anheuser-Busch is far from the socially responsible company they claim to be.
By continually releasing products that are geared towards underage consumption, backing corrupt and irresponsible politicians, and using their big business dollars to stifle the brewing industry they are showing who they really are. Until they start taking a more proactive approach and focus on their beer, not their power, they will be just another big business in my eyes.
