From Clay Jones on his political cartoon “America The Beer,” Budweiser’s shameless rebranding effort, and how it appeals to bipartisan drunks
Budweiser is renaming their flagship product “America.” It is to commemorate the summer, the Olympics, the elections, and all those drunk, patriotic idiots in bars who scream “Murica!”
This means if you don’t drink that swill Budweiser sells, you hate America. If you’re a recovering alcoholic and you’ve stayed off the wagon (or is it on?), you hate America. Get drunk, you traitor. You don’t see ISIS drinking “America.” If you’re one of those beer snobs that demands a pumpkin-flavored beer, then you’re just a snooty idiot with a stick up your butt no matter what year or season it is. The only flavor in beer should be beer. Like coffee. There should only be coffee-flavored coffee. And what’s up with people who put ketchup on hot dogs? Sorry, I’m getting upset and off track here. Ketchup on hot dogs … the nerve.
The brewery didn’t just change the name to “America” using the Budweiser font. They also included new text citing the Pledge of Allegiance, “The Star Spangled Banner,” and “America the Beautiful.”
“King of Beers” has been changed to “E Pluribus Unum,” “The World Renowned” changed to “Land of the Free,” and “Anheuser-Busch, Inc.” updated to read “Liberty & Justice For All.” Even legalese like “Trademark” was changed to “Indivisible,” and “Registered” changed to “Since 1776” (though Budweiser wouldn’t be available for another 100 years).
I probably shouldn’t be so cynical. Maybe it’s not just a promotional campaign to sell more beers from the corporation that’s given us the Clydesdale horses and the talking frogs. Maybe they really do feel patriotism and love for all that’s America. I wonder if the decision came down from their corporate HQ in Belgium.
Did you know that in most of Europe Budweiser can’t use the name “Budweiser?” There’s another Budweiser from Germany, and it probably taste like actual beer.
I was hesitant in drawing this cartoon. It felt kinda weird to do something that might appeal to both sides of the aisle. I’ve heard some people describe the Trump phenomenon as America being drunk. There’s a lot of Democrats who aren’t particularly excited about Hillary Clinton, and we’ve seen how the GOP is reacting to Trump, though he has received more primary votes than any Republican ever. At this point, only 15 congressmen have come out and endorsed the Orange One.
I made one tiny mistake at the bottom of the can. I wrote “and” instead of “for” in the “liberty and justice for all” part. I noticed it right as I was finishing the coloring. It doesn’t bother me enough to change and you probably wouldn’t have noticed anyway.
As for making America great again, I’m all for that if we’re talking about the beer.
claytoonz.com/2016/05/12/america-the-beer
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Absolutely great cartoon. There will be idiots drooling to get their hands on ‘Murica beer.