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Another Faux Craft Beer from MillerCoors

by David R. Pierce » Wed Apr 21, 2010 5:33 am

Borrowed from: ProBrewer

MillerCoors launches Colorado Native from faux brewing unit

MillerCoors launched Colorado Native last week, a “craft” beer with no reference to the MillerCoors brand.

A.C. Golden Brewing Co. will market the brand exclusively through digital and word-of-mouth channels. The marketer says the brand is brewed from "99.9%" Colorado-grown ingredients, a percentage that includes the locally made glass bottles. It will initially be sold only in Colorado but may roll out into other states depending on success.

With Colorado Native Lager, A.C. Golden is using the model that worked for MillerCoors' Blue Moon: seeding the brand through word-of-mouth and letting consumers feel as if they "discovered" the beer for themselves, which encourages them to introduce friends to it. To do so, it's putting the entirety of its tiny Colorado Native budget into mobile and social-media channels.

Every Colorado Native label is affixed with a "SnapTag," which, if photographed on a mobile device and e-mailed to a specified phone number, allows the brand to begin a conversation with its drinkers.

After e-mailing in a picture of the logo, a drinker will first get a reply asking for their birthday. If they say they're older than 21, they'll be queried with Colorado-centric trivia about their hobbies and interests, and the database will remember the answers and use them to craft future communications and offers to each individual drinker.

Depending on what each purchaser tells the brand, it could receive communications on outdoorsy activities such as hiking or skiing, Colorado sports trivia or notices about bar nights and special offers. It'll also inquire about their favorite local charities, which will receive 25¢ from each case sale. Colorado Native also uses more conventional social-media means, such as a Facebook page.

Colorado Native is the first brand to use the SnapTag technology on its packaging, although companies such as Unilever, Ford and Crayola have used it on ads and displays.
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Re: Another Faux Craft Beer from MillerCoors

by DanB » Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:36 am

I'm not a beer geek although I'm pretty spoiled for choice given where I live. But seriously, what's wrong with what Coors is doing? The first question should be is the beer any good? If so, then the craft revolution is forcing big brewers to make better beer....normaly a good thing for consumers, or am I missing something?
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Re: Another Faux Craft Beer from MillerCoors

by JustinHammond » Wed Apr 21, 2010 7:56 am

DanB wrote:I'm not a beer geek although I'm pretty spoiled for choice given where I live. But seriously, what's wrong with what Coors is doing? The first question should be is the beer any good? If so, then the craft revolution is forcing big brewers to make better beer....normaly a good thing for consumers, or am I missing something?


Watch Beer Wars

Coors is just trying to trick people into buying their "craft beer". Coors has more power/money then smaller micro breweries and can drive out microbrewers from liquor and grocery stores. The big brewers control the beer market and keep our choices of craft beer limited in the retail market. They will do anything to keep the real craft brewers out.
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Re: Another Faux Craft Beer from MillerCoors

by David R. Pierce » Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:19 am

DanB wrote:I'm not a beer geek although I'm pretty spoiled for choice given where I live. But seriously, what's wrong with what Coors is doing? The first question should be is the beer any good? If so, then the craft revolution is forcing big brewers to make better beer....normaly a good thing for consumers, or am I missing something?


Of course the mega-brewers have the ability to brew great beer. When they don't release products under their own name, they intentionally mislead the customer.
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Re: Another Faux Craft Beer from MillerCoors

by DanB » Wed Apr 21, 2010 10:12 am

Yes but what if this beer tastes better than some local Colorado microbrew? Should I still not buy it? I had a Pelforth a couple of weeks ago that was really good. I bet if I looked, it's probably owned by some mega-corporation. But all I know is thatt it went really well with my Moules Frites. As a consumer, that's about all I need.
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Re: Another Faux Craft Beer from MillerCoors

by Matthew D » Wed Apr 21, 2010 10:21 am

DanB wrote:Yes but what if this beer tastes better than some local Colorado microbrew? Should I still not buy it? I had a Pelforth a couple of weeks ago that was really good. I bet if I looked, it's probably owned by some mega-corporation. But all I know is thatt it went really well with my Moules Frites. As a consumer, that's about all I need.


I wish I could be a single-issue food consumer. Would make life so much easier...

[Probably should add an emoticon, or three. Not sure which ones, though.]
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Re: Another Faux Craft Beer from MillerCoors

by JustinHammond » Wed Apr 21, 2010 10:32 am

DanB wrote:Yes but what if this beer tastes better than some local Colorado microbrew? Should I still not buy it?


You can buy what you want, but the question is, do you want to support a company that intentionally deceives its customers and limits their choices of beer.
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Re: Another Faux Craft Beer from MillerCoors

by David Clancy » Wed Apr 21, 2010 11:05 am

JustinHammond wrote:
DanB wrote:Yes but what if this beer tastes better than some local Colorado microbrew? Should I still not buy it?


You can buy what you want, but the question is, do you want to support a company that intentionally deceives its customers and limits their choices of beer.
Nailed it on the head! :wink:
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Re: Another Faux Craft Beer from MillerCoors

by Chris M » Thu Apr 22, 2010 10:05 am

David R. Pierce wrote:
DanB wrote:I'm not a beer geek although I'm pretty spoiled for choice given where I live. But seriously, what's wrong with what Coors is doing? The first question should be is the beer any good? If so, then the craft revolution is forcing big brewers to make better beer....normaly a good thing for consumers, or am I missing something?


Of course the mega-brewers have the ability to brew great beer. When they don't release products under their own name, they intentionally mislead the customer.



I 100% don't agree with that. A Lexus is basically just a fancied up Toyota. Do I need to know that? (ok, maybe right now I do). Infinit doesn't openly disclose that they are basically Nissans. Acura is a Honda.

Let's talk bourbon. The same people who make Sazerac Rye, 1792, Blanton's, Eagle Rare and the Van Winkle family products also make Ancient Age and Kentucky Tavern. Often a high end bourbon and low end bourbon come out of the same batch depending on how they age. They don't put Sazerac on every bottle.

Do I care that Woodford and Jack Daniels are both made by Brown Foreman? Do I care that Woodford is actually mixed with Old Forester because they can't make enough with the copper stills to meet demand? That Knob Creek and Jim Beam are both part of Beam Brands?

Wine makers do the same thing. Gallo makes some decent wines, and then they make Thunderbird.

Most people don't know or care. Shouldn't I just judge each product on its own merits?

If it's good beer (tbd) and they aren't claiming to be something they aren't..... what harm is there? Why does it matter if it's brewed by Coors or by Miller or by Ma and Pa Kettle? Good is good.
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Re: Another Faux Craft Beer from MillerCoors

by David R. Pierce » Thu Apr 22, 2010 10:11 am

This response was posted by a MillerCoors employee on ProBrewer:

Why "faux" ?
Can someone qualify the use of the derogatory "faux" for me please? If you'd bothered to check you would know that, this beer is made in our 35 bbl Golden Based R&D facility. There are brewers whose brands you don't refer to as "faux" with batch sizes much larger than that. The geography is CO only, and the current volume is miniscule compared non-"faux" brands. Blue Moon was very small when it started at the Sandlot brewery at Coors field - home of the CO Rockies. I know the brewer there, he's a craft man through and through, check his GABF medal total sometime. So why the "raspberry"?
Just because a company has become good at supplying the mass market what it want to drink, which is not at all what the craft market wants to drink, doesn't mean our guys can't "craft" beer. I know, I see and sample what the R&D guys come up with. It's every bit as good as anything on the market, regardless of source. These guys know their "craft".
Try it, you might like it.
This is "probrewer", not "fauxbrewer", right?
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Re: Another Faux Craft Beer from MillerCoors

by Chris M » Thu Apr 22, 2010 10:15 am

JustinHammond wrote:
DanB wrote:Yes but what if this beer tastes better than some local Colorado microbrew? Should I still not buy it?


You can buy what you want, but the question is, do you want to support a company that intentionally deceives its customers and limits their choices of beer.



Somebody please explain to me how not putting Coors on the bottle is deceptive.

It's not Coors.

As far as limiting choice... blame distributors and retailers. They have the option to carry whatever they want. Coors can't MAKE them not stock other products. The worst they can do it not let them stock Coors products which seems to be working out just fine for Roger......
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Re: Another Faux Craft Beer from MillerCoors

by Brad Keeton » Thu Apr 22, 2010 12:00 pm

Chris M wrote:
JustinHammond wrote:
DanB wrote:Yes but what if this beer tastes better than some local Colorado microbrew? Should I still not buy it?


You can buy what you want, but the question is, do you want to support a company that intentionally deceives its customers and limits their choices of beer.



Somebody please explain to me how not putting Coors on the bottle is deceptive.

It's not Coors.

As far as limiting choice... blame distributors and retailers. They have the option to carry whatever they want. Coors can't MAKE them not stock other products. The worst they can do it not let them stock Coors products which seems to be working out just fine for Roger......


I think I have to agree with Chris on this. Plus, while the label doesn't read "Coors Colorado Native," wouldn't the bottle say on it, somewhere, "Brewed by Miller Coors" or whatever. It seems to me that the consumer can find out pretty quickly who brewed it.
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Re: Another Faux Craft Beer from MillerCoors

by Deb Hall » Thu Apr 22, 2010 1:04 pm

David R. Pierce wrote:
DanB wrote:I'm not a beer geek although I'm pretty spoiled for choice given where I live. But seriously, what's wrong with what Coors is doing? The first question should be is the beer any good? If so, then the craft revolution is forcing big brewers to make better beer....normaly a good thing for consumers, or am I missing something?


Of course the mega-brewers have the ability to brew great beer. When they don't release products under their own name, they intentionally mislead the customer.


Not to support the mega-breweries, but not releasing products under the corporate name has a long, long history in the alcoholic beverage industry, so I wouldn't consider it to be deceptive to the consumer. A huge percentage of the spirits out there do not tell you who made them - it is normal to create a sub-company for that and that is the information on the "bottled by" information on the bottle. Trying looking at many of your favorite Bourbons- most of them are "bottled by" a unique botling company- even though many of them are owned by the same corporation. Evan Williams and Elijah Craig, for example, are made by Heaven Hill - and you won't see that name anywhere on the bottles or in advertising.

Now if Coors runs ads showcasing their master brewer as craftsman working with one small tank- that's deceptive...
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Re: Another Faux Craft Beer from MillerCoors

by Roger A. Baylor » Thu Apr 22, 2010 1:52 pm

As for it not being important to know where a product originates, to each his own, but I find it tedious in the extreme to say that origins do not matter, and that if something tastes fine and is affordable, it's the end of the story.

Really? Seems to me that consumers often make choices based on ethical considerations that extend beyond acceptability of flavor and price point.

Coors will use this to keep genuine craft products off store shelves. It's how they've always operated, and will continue to operate. Anyone interested in free trade who slams a Coors bottle to the table to make his or her point quite simply is delusional about the way the world works.

Me? I'd like to know if my sneakers were made in an unregulated Third World sweatshop. I may still elect to buy them, but it's always better to know.
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Re: Another Faux Craft Beer from MillerCoors

by Leah S » Thu Apr 22, 2010 2:05 pm

Along this same line of thinking, a lot of bottled waters are from public water companies. Aquafina and Dasani, for example.
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