Budweiser releasing olde timey shipping crates and vintage

[golf_lover44]

LABELS FOR CHRISTMAS

BY DAN SOLOMON

Budweiser would like hipsters to ironically drink their crappy beer now.
Proving that the world is only a very thin marketing decision away from permanently becoming a Portlandia sketch, Budweiser is looking to appeal to the hipster set—but rather than trying to convince young people with a curatorial eye to drink their beer out of "because it sucks" irony (the way that, say, Keystone Light has attempted to horn in on the PBR market), they're aiming to do it through the grand old tradition of "authenticity."



What that looks like in the beer market is: Budweiser is shipping a limited number of vintage, handmade wooden crates (from North Carolina woodshop Vintage Editions) to retailers for the holidays. Each of the 10,000 crates are decorated with old-school Budweiser logos, and inside, they contain 18 bottles of the King of Beers, each of which wears a fancy throwback logo from either 1918 (when prohibition began), 1933 (when prohibition ended) or 1976 (when Budweiser turned 100 years old)—as well as a pair of Pilsner glasses, to more quickly allow the recipient to preserve the empty bottle on a shelf for some dirt-cheap home decor.



It remains to be seen if some ironic throwback logos are enough to convince the Williamsburg/Pearl District/East Austin/Logan Square crowd to drink beer from the corporate behemoth that is Budweiser, but we have to give their marketing department some points for trying.

http://www.fastcocreate.com/3038066/bud ... -christmas

[Jeff]

I can remember 1976 and I don't remember beer in wooden crates at any stores where I shopped.

[BostonBob]

Who doesn't like a nice box?

[Barry Travis]

And some sticky Bud?

[Mike S]

Who doesn't like a nice box?

I agree but a wood box?

mike s

[RustnStuff]

Even a Belgian owned pig with lipstick is still a pig....

[BostonBob]

Splinters could be a major concern...

On a serious note - I just think Budweiser stuff is cool. It still seems American to me....kind of like Chevrolet even though many of their cars are made in Mexico or Canada (ok,ok I guess the OWNERSHIP is still American)

I don't really have a place in mind to display this, but depending on the price(?), I imagine this special "box" will be found under Christmas trees all over the USA!

[nocheins]

Ad week is quoting the price at about $40...in another year I'll be seeing these at flea markets for $50...if I'm a Bud guy I'd rather find an original older crate than this Cracker Barrel stuff...

[pinnacle-project]

I can remember 1976 and I don't remember beer in wooden crates at any stores where I shopped.

Agreed. Wood cases must have gone away in the 50's or maybe early 60's at the latest. Definitely gone by 76.

[eric]

It was a 100th anniversary thing.