Here's an interesting article about Pabst Blue Ribbon from Marginal Utility, a blog that concerns itself more with marketing than beer. The basic idea is that latter-day PBR drinkers consume their beer of choice less because they like it or feel any particular brand loyalty to it and more because they want to poke a stick in the eye of mega brewers/marketers like Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Guinness or any of the other beer makers whose market positions seem to be more important than brewing good beer.
It's an intriguing idea. But could being an ironic choice really be a way to build a strong brand? I can't believe that the folks at Pabst have that goal in mind. One point that this argument conveniently ignores is that Pabst has been turning in gold and silver winning brews at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver over the last few years.
Comments
I have a friend who drinks Rolling Rock for essentially the same reason … I’ll never understand it. If you’re gonna be different, why not be different by drinking a “better” beer. PBR, especially among the “hipsters” who think its somehow cool to avoid the A-Bs and Miller-Coors beers of the world, is just another American macro lager at the end of the day. By drinking it, you’re hardly showing how hip you are … you’re really only showing you don’t know know much about beer, or don’t care.
I’ve definitely noticed the trend of PBR’s cult cachet in the circles in which I run at college, especially the cycling community. As you suggest, it’s more for the irony and cheapness than anything else. Most people I know who are most outspoken about PBR love microbrews, and fully realize the absurdity of championing PBR. As for myself, I drink Old Style (brewed by Pabst, no less) simply because it’s called Old Style. It tastes no better than any other macro lager; I just like the name more. My friends know I’m a beer geek and usually drink stouts, so it’s humourous when I go on about Old Style.