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How did Parent go from buying Blue Moon to suing its maker? The lawsuit was filed on April 24, and maintains that Parent purchased Blue Moon because the beer’s ads, price and placement among craft beers led him to believe it was also a craft beer.
That myth was shattered when, in the summer of 2012, Parent’s friends informed him this wasn’t the case. Though he didn’t believe them at first, after some research he discovered they were right. He hasn’t purchased a Blue Moon since.
I have to wonder how true his story is, it is plausible, but maybe he is in it for the money. I have been wondering if something like this would eventually happen, because the practice, which AB engages in as well, is slightly deceptive... and it seems intentionally so.
It will be interesting to see what happens with this. Thoughts?
I have to wonder how true his story is, it is plausible, but maybe he is in it for the money. I have been wondering if something like this would eventually happen, because the practice, which AB engages in as well, is slightly deceptive... and it seems intentionally so.
It will be interesting to see what happens with this. Thoughts?
There's no legal definition for "craft beer", is there? Seems like this will be thrown out easily.
I wouldn't consider their advertising deceptive. They never discuss being owned by a small company or being independent from big brewers. Not being upfront about ownership isn't the same as being deceptive. To use a restaurant analogy, you didn't exactly see Chipotle bragging about being part-owned by McDonalds back when that was the case, but I don't think anyone considered Chipotle's advertising deceptive.
Lots of advertising is deceptive. Buy our car & you'll suddenly have lots of friends & hot ladies. We've all seen the pictures of the Big Mac in ads vs the real thing. Not sure where or if a line can be drawn.
This article made me chuckle. It read like something out of the Onion. Guy obviously likes Blue Moon evidenced by him buying it often. Then one day his friends inform him it isn't craft, so he forgets his taste preference & automatically stops buying it, because it's owned by Miller. Oh the horror. Hilarious.
I am not standing up for the guy, but he does have a point, one which has been brought up by many people. (In less silly fashions.)
Go buy Extra Gold or any other beer that Miller-Coors makes that is not Miller or Coors, and they say Miller-Coors on the can/bottle. The only brand Miller-Coors makes, that I have seen, that they do not take credit for on the packaging/website is Blue Moon.
Also, when I go into a liquor store, all the Miller stuff is in the same cooler, all the Coors stuff is in the same cooler, and the Blue Moon is half-way across the store with the craft brews.
I don't understand why Coors can't just own up and take credit for Blue Moon, it is a successful beer brand... the only reason I can think of why they wouldn't want to take credit for a successful beer brand is because they don't want people to know that the beer is mass produced in huge automated breweries.
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Originally Posted by everwinter
Lots of advertising is deceptive. Buy our car & you'll suddenly have lots of friends & hot ladies. We've all seen the pictures of the Big Mac in ads vs the real thing. Not sure where or if a line can be drawn.
Strawman.
When they advertise the car, and you buy the car, you get a the car. When they advertise the hamburger, and you buy the hamburger, you get the hamburger.
When they advertise a beer as being "craft beer", and you buy their beer, you get a beer that was produced in giant automated factories like any macro beer, but with different ingredients. (Not what most people consider to be craft beer.)
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What I really hope happens here, is that we get some sort of legal definition of "craft beer", because we don't have one right now, so the subject is hard to discuss. It is difficult to have any meaningful discussion when the main subject of the discussion is loosely defined or not at all defined.
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Originally Posted by pcity
They never discuss being owned by a small company or being independent from big brewers.
... But they do emulate the packaging, labeling, pricing, cooler location, etc... and then they leave out the part about being brewed in a massive brewery with macro brewing techniques. (Information that they seem to include on every other brand they make.)
I feel like, if I were to dress like, act like, etc... an insurance salesman, but simply left out the information that I am not an insurance salesman.... and then I conducted business as if I was an insurance salesman. People would call me deceptive. I don't think me saying "Well, I never technically said I was an insurance salesman." would hold up as a defense.
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To Greg Koch, CEO and co-founder of Stone Brewing Company in Escondido, Calif., it’s a cut and dry matter of how much American consumers value truth over deception. “It’s my personal philosophy that the truth should be easy to understand and require no special knowledge,” says Koch. That similar practices occur with other products, like “artisanal” cheese or “natural bread,” doesn’t justify it, says Koch. “They’re basically co-opting imagery that’s not consistent with reality. That’s where, as a consumer, I get ticked off.”
Blue Moon is one of the few decent macro beers out there...anyone that can read knows it's owned by Miller...this guy is just a jerk that probably got made fun of when he tried to claim he drank micros and ordered a blue moon when other options were around.
When they advertise the car, and you buy the car, you get a the car.
Eh, if you buy a Scion, it doesn't say anywhere on it that Toyota is the parent company, it's branded as a Scion. But you know if if you've ever looked it up or read anything about it that it's a Toyota product. Is this deceptive?
In fact, I'm pretty sure I knew Blue Moon was a MillerCoors product long before I knew Scion was a Toyota product.
Eh, if you buy a Scion, it doesn't say anywhere on it that Toyota is the parent company, it's branded as a Scion. But you know if if you've ever looked it up or read anything about it that it's a Toyota product. Is this deceptive?
Does Toyota put their name on all of their subsidiaries besides Scion? If so... kinda. Again, this is a straw-man though. Toyota is not a" macro car company" selling "macro cars" under a brand that does as much as it can to appear to be a "micro car company."
The argument does not carry over because craft beer and Scion TC's have very little in common, in practical terms.
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In fact, I'm pretty sure I knew Blue Moon was a MillerCoors product long before I knew Scion was a Toyota product.
Like Greg Koch from Stone said:
“It’s my personal philosophy that the truth should be easy to understand and require no special knowledge, they’re basically co-opting imagery that’s not consistent with reality. That’s where, as a consumer, I get ticked off.”
Blue Moon is one of the few decent macro beers out there...anyone that can read knows it's owned by Miller...this guy is just a jerk that probably got made fun of when he tried to claim he drank micros and ordered a blue moon when other options were around.
Anyone who can read blogs, industry mags, etc... Nowhere on the bottle, boxed packaging, or website does it have the words "Miller-Coors" written on it.
Again, not standing up for the guy, and in a way I am really just playing devil's advocate, but it is pretty clear to me that they don't want people to read "Miller-Coors" on anything marketed as "Blue Moon", otherwise they would write "Miller-Coors" on the bottles, labeling, website... etc.
Another thing I wanted to mention...automation does not define a macro either. We recently did a tour of a brewery...Wisconsin Brewing Co. ....state of the art facility....and after the brew master develops the recipe (very neat guy btw)...it's programmed in..and is pretty much automatic from there as humans watch.
Does that mean it's not a micro any longer??
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