Gun Company Fires Back at Tommy Guns Vodka

Chicago mobsters back in the days of Al Capone favored a submachine gun known as the Tommy gun, which was then glorified in plenty of films and books about the era. But Tommy guns aren’t some relic of history. Saeilo Enterprises still makes them, and the owners aren’t very happy with Alphonse Capone Enterprises and its Tommy Guns Vodka, which is sold in a bottle shaped like the famous gun.

In fact, they are so annoyed that a lawsuit has been filed, the Chicago Tribune reports. Saeilo wants all of the Tommy Guns Vodka that is left to be turned over so it can all be destroyed. (Consumption counts as destroying, right?)Continue reading...

It’s been more than 1,500 years since Saint Patrick was laid to rest and could no longer use the shamrock to explain to Christians the idea of the Holy Trinity. Thanks to St. Patrick's Day every March 17th, his legacy inspires millions the world over to consume massive amounts of alcohol and shout “Top of the morning to ya!” to anyone who passes. With such a jovial reputation, you can bet that brands, alcoholic or not, take advantage of the built-in marketing ploy—and not just those participating in Pantone's color of the year for 2013.Continue reading...

Miller Lite is turning to an old page in its playbook, with a new gang of celebrities designed to boost the flagging brew in a fresh slate of TV commercials served up on another iconic platter for the franchise, "Miller Time." The new go-to guys for Miller Lite include Vince Vaughn, Ken Jeong, Chuck Liddell and Questlove.

But interestingly, Miller brand managers say that their new campaign (watch below) will not seek to trade too heavily on the appeal or persona of any one of its new stable of celebrity pitch people. One ad wonders what it would be like to hang out with actor Jeong, who will star in the upcoming Hangover Part III—but he's self-deprecating in the spot.

"Celebrity is not our strategy," Con Williamson, chief creative officer at Saatchi & Saatchi, the agency behind the campaign, told Ad Age. "Our strategy is solely focused on Miller Time." That, of course, will leave Miller strategically opposed to the growing number of tight tie-ups between beverage brands and individual celebrities, including Justin Timberlake and Bud Light Platinum, Taylor Swift and Diet Coke, and Beyonce and Pepsi.Continue reading...

With little to gain and a lot to lose, playing politics is something brands generally do from a position of neutrality ("7-Election"), low-brow humor (Gas-X's "Gas Crisis") or outright mocking of the system (Etch A Sketch; Reebok's 2003 Terry Tate candidacy). So when the Most Interesting Man in the World chose to host a fundraising event for President Barack Obama, Dos Equis's parent Heineken USA was understandably vexed, forced into one of those frustrating statements all brands hate to make that include the words "views are strictly his own, and do not represent."

But maybe Dos Equis — and Heineken — should play to their brand strengths. According to a recent study, both brands' drinkers trend Democratic, with the former rated the most popular beer amongst lefties. So when viewers drunkenly yell at the TV during the first 2012 presidential debate on Wednesday, chances are they will do so with very partisan bottles in hand.Continue reading...

"My veins run with cheese, bratwurst, and a little Spotted Cow, Leine's, and some Miller."

That was the Republican Congressman from Wisconsin and potential U.S. vice president Paul Ryan brand-checking a selection of his state's beers during a hometown acceptance speech last weekend.

Like everything else lately in Wisconsin, Ryan's other two selections — Spotted Cow and Leine's — are very much partisan and very unlikely to be found at the same political picnic.Continue reading...

Beer consumption in North America and Europe may be falling, but folks in Africa and Latin America are apparently putting back a few more than they used to because the folks at the London-based SABMiller were singing the praises of those two regions to shareholders on Thursday.

Reuters reports that the brewer’s annual earnings actually went up 12 percent (to $5.6 billion in pre-tax profits) and that 70 percent of the SABMiller profits came from “fast-growing emerging markets.” The specific countries in the world beer market that helped boost SABMiller in those regions are Latin America’s Colombia and Peru as well as the African nations of Tanzania and Zambia.Continue reading...

There was a time in America when every Miller in the land (and pretty much everybody else) could not escape it.

“It’s Miller Time!” rang from the New York islands to the redwood forests. Throughout the 1970s, Miller Brewing used the tagline and re-introduced it from 1997 to 2002 to support its Miller Lite, which started the whole light-beer movement in America 37 years ago.

But wait! CNBC reports that “Miller Time” is upon us again. The marketing plan this time around is to use it to support Miller Lite, which could use a boost.

Beer Marketer’s Insights estimates that overall shipments of the brew have fallen 4.3 percent, CNBC reports. So from May to August, U.S. consumers can expect to hear and see the tagline wherever they buy beer. Miller Lite’s media budget in that time frame will go up 50 percent and new packaging will be introduced, MillerCoors CMO Andy England told the Dow Jones Newswires.Continue reading...

Molson Coors makes almost all of its sales in Canada, the U.S., and Great Britain, so it's no surprise that the brewer is looking to expand internationally. The Chicago-based company is also developing new products to entice those new markets.

Case in point: an iced tea brew called Coors Light Iced T, which it unveiled in a presentation on Tuesday to analysts. "The citrus-like, iced tea-flavored beer will have roughly 4% alcohol content but no caffeine," the Wall Street Journal notes. The drive to innovate and develop new products is simple. "Someone else is eating our lunch in the alcohol space," Molson Coors CEO Peter Swinburn told analysts.

The tea brewski will be found in Molson's homeland of Canada first, according to Reuters, “where consumers are interested in flavored beers,” and could end up appearing on U.S. shelves in time as well. Reuters reports that Molson Coors will also introduce the citrus-flavored Carling Zest, which will be sold for a limited time, as well as an autumn-inspired Leinenkugels beer.Continue reading...