Creative vs Gimmicky

i think creativity has a window/timeframe before its labeled a gimmick, and majority def rules here. for instance if there is a room full of people (beer lovers that are internet celebrities), and more than half of them are enjoying your newly scored "oyster stout" then its creative and innovative. but if half of them hate the next beer which happens to be a habanero and cinnamon quad you better hope there is a typewriter riding a 1800's bicycle on the label or you are gonna be labeled a gimmick.... creativity to me is all the beers that are being brewed privately right now and never make it out to us. the blue collar grunts that are competent enough to draw outside the lines in the name of beer! anyone who dreams up some 10 gallon batch of mashy wort concoction with some homegrown hops and it shows its face just right for the first time, thats creativity to me!!!

 

Stone and Bell's marketing are pretty gimmicky, although they seem to work. They both have a snobby attitude to them, only difference is I actually like Stone. Enjoy By is another thing that could be considered gimmicky, but I'd say it's somewhere in the middle. On one end, the forced expiration date makes it seem like people need to buy it before it goes "bad". On the other, you're getting a world class DIPA as fresh as can be. The amount of money Stone must put into getting the beer out that fast must be ridiculous.

 

I fail to see much difference between that and breweries like Stone or Flying Dog who try to draw you in with their 'artwork' or DFH trying to get customers based on the 'exotic' ingredients they use in their beers. Marketing gimmicks are marketing gimmicks period.

 

Who's to really say, Ive had beers with cucumber in it and it was great, Wicked Weed uses Rhubarb in a brew. BA IPA's are unique, Foothills put Seeing Double a year or so ago to barrel, and it was great. IPA and Brett, funky IPA's, on the fence here. Gimmicks are as mentioned above, changing the packaging, vortex turbo crap in the bottle, changing the shape etc.

 

If a beer uses its abv in the description, it is generally a gimmick. I don't care if I'm drinking a 20% abv stout, if it sucks.

 

Gimmicks sell a lot of beer fast. Creativity sells a lot of beer over a long time.

 

I was just providing a specific point that came to mind in referencing Miller Lite using a gimmick to sell more beer. That's all.

 

Basically for me it boils down to a ratio of Walk (creative) vs. Talk (gimmick).

If a beer says they're all that, using this hop and that malt, and it sucks, well it's all talk. Other beers will vaguely mention it but with dignity, and well, if it's amazing...Walk.

 

I don't know why people are offended at the word gimmick or would rather say something straddles the fence. If something is a gimmick, it's a gimmick by definition. You can't change definitions. If you don't like a word and what it means, then sorry. It don't mean it's something else. For example. I'm an overweight, short white guy. I don't like being overweight or short, so let's call me tall and skinny because that's a "gray area" or I don't want to comment because I could be seen as tall compared to midgets or skinny compared to people eating at Golden Corral.


By definition a gimmick is
noun
1. an ingenious or novel device, scheme, or stratagem, especially one designed to attract attention or increase appeal.
2. a concealed, usually devious aspect or feature of something, as a plan or deal:

verb (used with object)
5. to equip or embellish with unnecessary features, especially in order to increase saleability, acceptance, etc. (often followed by up): to gimmick up a sports car with chrome and racing stripes.

Why do brewers use moon dust, chili peppers in beer, barrel age everything, crazy art work on the labels, crazy beer names, crazy artwork, collaborations with other breweries, or anything designed to attract attention to their brewery and make sales? It's designed to attract attention or increase appeal. Holy crap. Look at the first definition of gimmick.

If Brew Dogs stuff a beer bottle up a kangaroo's ass and sell it for $2500, then good for them. That's a great example of a gimmick. It's designed to attract attention to their brewery and it's a novel device. Pretty much hitting a home run for the main definition of gimmick.

If The Bruery barrel ages a beer with rice, juniper berries, and cumquats and calls it Bruesquat then, oh my...that's just creative. Yes, it's creative. But, it's a very novel device used to attract attention to their brewery. Wait...what word encompasses that?

I hate to tell people this, but things can be creative and gimmicky at the same time. Why can't they be? In fact, a lot of things are just creative ways to be gimmicky. Let's take beer out of the equation because people get butt hurt when you say anything about their favorite brewery that isn't being a fanboy about them.

NASCAR in general is a gimmick. The point is to make sales for sponsors, get the sponsors name out there, make sure you cram down the throat of the whole crowd that this driver is the Home Depot driver and we are racing at the Home Depot 500. From the half naked girls handing out Home Depot key chains in the Home Depot booth, to the 30 different shirts that say Home Depot at the Home Depot race trailer for sale and so on. It's creative ways to gimmick. The company is trying to attract attention and increase appeal. Is it negative that it's a gimmick? Why would it be? It is what it is. It's not a freaking gray area and it's not straddling the fence between creativity and gimmicky. It is what it is.

I think people have made up their own definition in their head what they think gimmick means. I don't know why that word is perceived as negative.

Some people love their job and love what they do. That's great. You still make money to provide for you and your family. That's the bottom line. Doing what you love is a big bonus. If brewers love what they do that's great. They still have to sell beer and make money. Coming up with creative ways to do that and creative beer to do that is part of it. It's a gimmick. It don't means it's negative. It is what it is.

 

I think we have a winner. For gimmick of the year. Though many bugs do have some taste. besides yuck.

 

Its just creative marketing, one has to have an edge in selling beer. I have no issue with gimmick, IF THE BEER IS GOOD.
period. many are 1 and done. the best stay around.

nice post btw.

 

@Droopy487: I'm sorry but that's not how language works and to demand that kind of unified standard without any variation is simply unrealistic. Language is subject to experience, impression and change - i.e. subjective perspective. According to your logic I should be able to walk around using the German equivalent of the word "wench" (Weib) without any issues because it factually means "female person" (although it is no doubt insulting vis-a-vis social connotations). And people should stop misusing words such as "ironic", "like" (in a comparative sense), "literally" and a whole bunch more if they don't fit their exact definition.

While I can see your point, that kind of argument is futile in terms of its relevance for reality and the use of language as a subjective vehicle. I fail to see the issue with having a definition that deviates from the dictionary definition as far as that definition is elaborated upon. This kind of "stiffness" may be practical for science or debates that relate to universal claims - not inherently subjective or vague issues. Unless we want to go the route of universal claims for your definition of "gimmick" which would need credible evidence for all criteria - not just guess work or deduction.

I highly doubt the latter practice is going to find many supporters. This is a forum, not a courtroom or a laboratory.

 

Inherent in that definition is also the word novel, and I guess this is where things are open to interpretation. But this is also where we see the lasting effects of that creativity/gimmicky dichotomy. After a certain gimmick is introduced, if it is well-received it then becomes imitated until it gains a certain level of normalcy, and will no longer be regarded as a gimmick.

I think this is where we stand with some of the things you mentioned, like barrel aging, crazy names and artwork, collabs- they are all, for better or worse, all a normal part of the fabric of the scene these days.

 

Exactly. It's an internet forum. It's not a courtroom. Sorry you don't agree with me. We all have our own opinions. Cheers brother.

 

I mean I don't disagree with everything you said - I certainly agree with the idea that "gimmicky" doesn't have to be a "bad thing" and some leaning towards the actual definition certainly makes sense. (if we just relativized everything communication would become an incomprehensible mess after all) and you made some good arguments in conjunction with your premise. (particularly in terms of attracting attention - after all, beer is a product and products are marketed one way or another)

 

I agree with you. But, just playing devil's advocate here. The word novel is not negative in my eyes either. Dipping a cattle prod in beer to make it foam is novel. Stuffing a beer bottle in a squirrel is novel. Barrel aging beer is novel. Using moon dust is novel.

Why is using moon dust a bad thing and just an awful person trying to be dirty and make sales different than (insert favorite brewery here) barrel aging everything. They're both novel. They're both trying to sell beer. They're both attracting attention.

 

goat brains are pretty gimmicky

 

Yeah, as I said - it's a product with certain qualities and these qualities are used to market it. (i.e. attract attention) Nothing wrong with that as far as the facts aren't being twisted.

 

Time will tell. I'd say that (bourbon) barrel aging was a gimmick when it originated, and it certainly was novel at the time; it's just no longer that way now. I doubt moon rock dust will have the same legacy.

 

I respect you have opinions but your views on language are skewed to me. If something is made of wood, it's made of wood. If someone has male and female parts, they are a *****y. If you mow your yard, you use a lawnmower. If liquid shoots out of cows tit, it's milk. If someone tries to market something novel to attract attention and makes sales, it's a gimmick. If I put salad dressing on lettuce and tomatoes and eat it, it's a salad.