Boycotting Is a Slippery Slope

Very good article and one that does open your eyes to the whole picture. It is a tough spot. I totally get your position and don't hold any issue towards taking dollars from big beer. I understand business and how it all works, so I would be doing the same thing. The key factor is education, and I feel BA provides an in-depth amount of info to educate everyone so you know what it what. With that said you can make choices on what to consume etc. I for one don't boycott or pass on big beer. I tend to support local/craft but I also consume my fair share of the big boys because that is life. I attend concerts, sporting events, etc. and that is what is sold, so I enjoy myself and the beer.
Cheers and good article.....

 

Always respect the brew no matter who is distributing.. elysian shorts lagunitas ballast point always made exceptional beer until they sold out right? Please stop the bullshit

 

BA.com is welcome to do whatever "selling out" it must in order to survive as far as I'm concerned. It's invaluable as a resource for beer -- macro, craft, big, independent, homebrewed and otherwise. And in five years of doing reviews on here and reading/positing in the forums, I've not once encountered anything untoward in terms of BA.com and conflicting interests.

 

I chose to not consume "craft beer" owned by large corporations. That doesn't mean I don't drink beer from large corporations.

In my PERSONAL opinion, drinking Corporate Craft Beer undermines what craft beer stands for. I hope that my boycott of Corporate Craft Beer impacts their bottom dollar somehow and they chose to go other routs.

Do I boycott Corporate Beer? No. Bud/Miller/Coors have their place in the beer drinking world, I will drink a Bud Light from time to time. Craft Beer is not going to kill large beer ever. I just hope that Craft Beer can hold it's own against Corporate Craft Beer.

Cheers and drink what you like. I won't judge you.

 

I am just amazed of the mindset of so many folks today. People use this site and ones like it with no out of pocket costs to themselves and somehow have become so entitled that they can inject themselves into how it is run.

I am sure your response was more measured than mine would have been.

 

At the end of the day it is all about the beer in the bottle/can/keg,...

We all get to decide what beers we are willing to purchase and pour down our gullets.

It's all good!!

Cheers!

 

Agree 100% but the concept that someone is boycotting a free site?

They probably threaten the TV as well.

 

It's hard because one ad whether full, half or quarter spread from someone like ABI could pay for a lot vs needing multiple ads from multiple brands to equal what you received. However, it all depends on what you're looking to do.

 

If that reader hadn't already stopped supporting this site/magazine, I'd imagine that reader has now after being called out in front of everyone.

As for the topic at hand....

It is disappointing, IMO, to see a company that has been pretty anti-InBev from my observations, go ahead and promote a company they don't agree with. To me, that is the difference between Beer Advocate and the other examples presented, like bars selling their product....assuming, of course, those other examples don't have an anti-InBev platfrom.

How disappointing is it to me? Eh, not that much. Next time I read an Anti-InBev rant from anyone associated with this site, I might pay a little less attention to it than I had prior, but that's about it.

 

I get enough of the politiical bullshit, this is a beer site and it's about beer. I support that, and because you allow advertising space isn't necessarily an endorsement, it's only business. The In Bev Hate is out of control. I'll drink what I like no matter who's the controlling interist. See the craft brewers made their decesion they sold, don't like it bitch at them, but for the most part the beers are left alone and have better distribution.

 

So last month it's "stop the zombie beer brand apocalypse" and "support independent brewers" and this month it's "boycotting is a slippery slope and we're against it." While these aren't exactly opposite statements, there is certainly some contradiction there. Every beer purchased as a result of a Big Beer ad is a loss of support for independent brewers.

But I get it. We should boycott buying the brands themselves, not necessarily those who make money from the brands. I'll still go to my local bar that is half AB taps, but I won't buy any GI there, even when they have BCBS on draft. Maybe I'll even let the owner know I know some Belgian conglomerate owns half his taps and encourage him to get more local brews, and that I'd be happy to pay an extra dollar per beer for them so he can make up for the significant price difference I know exists between AB beers and others. Likewise, I'll read BA even if they have GI and Lagunitas ads, but I'll get on this forum and encourage BA to stop running them, unless they come up with some sort of zombie beer brand alert disclaimer.

 

Nice article. If you boycott AB products, then why not Walmart or Tyson's or Home Depot or Google? Most of them are as bad or worse than AB. Why selectively boycott one big business while giving your dollars to others? Most all have the same business practices.

 

I generally disagree with boycotting anything - usually has no effect, and in the meantime I am not buying something I want. AB/InBev ican afford to take whatever microscopic impact a handful of boycotters cause, but it could hurt BeerAdvocate. I can understand some readers reacting to BeerAdvocate carrying an AB/InBev ad, and I can understand the business reasons for BeerAdvocate carrying it.

What would BeerAdvocate do if AB/InBev wanted to book a 10 page ad in the next issue, showcasing their crafty and macro beers? That would be tough money to turn down, but it would certainly alienate more than a handful of subscribers if you ran it.

 

Reminds me of the times when musicians were accused of being sell outs because their songs appeared in ads. Now, a musician almost has to say yes to that to have a chance to make a living. Support your artists and creators and Brewers. They put their money and time on the line. I hope they do make money and succeed.

 

BA has IMO really nailed it in the last two issues with pieces on education and transparency. It doesn't matter to me if it's beer or business practice (or for that matter the business practices of beer!); give me the info and I'll make my own call on whether to buy or not.

As far as accepting advertising from "corporate" craft or craft(y) beer so what? BA readers know the facts.

 

The way I see it BA puts out a great magazine and if they can get ABInbev to help pay for it that's a win-win.

 

I'm not a big fan of boycotting any products; at least to this point there hasn't been one that garnered that sort of reaction.

This article seems to be slight course correction from the "Beer Zombie Apocalypse" of last month. I greatly enjoy that BA content is free on the website, and if ABI advertisements make that happen I'm fine. But if we are calling craft bands that sell out to the megacorps "soulless" and a lingering infestation, it does seem confusing to have those brands advertise to the craft beer community.

Again, I'm happy to have BA as a resource and any advertiser to me is helping support that resource. If anything, as consumers we should know about the products we buy and decide if it matters to us where we put our purchases.

 

Do you think any Red Sox fans will boycott you for taking ad $$ from the Yankees?

 

Great article. Concise points that all of us should consider. Pointing out the self-defeating inconsistency that dooms all of these ABI boycotts to failure best point made IMO.