A few great Stella Artois Commercials

Beer supplies threatened!! Hostages taken!!

When's the last time you heard of beer strikers taking hostages? We take our beer seriously here in Belgium. The London Times reports that supplies of Stella Artois (affectionately know as the "wife beater" in the UK) are running seriously low.









A labor dispute in the Flemish region of Belgium is affecting the world’s largest brewery. Union workers in the city of Leuven where InBev's brewery is are upset by a plan by Anheuser-Busch – InBev to cut 263 jobs.

The international mega-brewer makes Bud and Bud Light. In Belgium, it produces Stella Artois among other brands. But a blockade of the company’s headquarters in Belgium is disrupting supplies.

About 10 managers at an Anheuser-Busch InBev brewery in Jupille in eastern Belgium were taken hostage by worker union officials after the company announced it was firing about 10 percent of its Belgium workers.

“We are demanding that the (company’s) senior managers come here and call off the lay-offs,” Marc Devenne, a union representative was quoted as saying by the Belga news agency.
See one story here.

One of Leuven's landmarks is a statue called the Fountain of Wisdom. It’s of a student reading a book while pouring liquid (wisdom) into his head. Maybe it’s Stella.....

The Stella Artois pub finder

Stella Artois has released an augmented reality app for the iPhone that helps you find pubs near you that sell the old wife beater.(Stella's nickname in the UK) The app is currently only available in the US but will be released in the UK soon.

The Belgians are coming.....

Stella,.......at the corner of 1st and Washington, downtown Minneapolis. (click to enlarge)

Anheuser-Busch finally punished for selling to the filthy Belgians

The Stella Artois Rebellion is in the works, let' see if they can meet their Waterloo.

Do you know that America's King of Beers is now a Belgian Beer? It is. And it pisses us off. Bigtime. We're not just going to slouch on our barstools with our cracks hanging out and do nothing. We're fighting back. For truth, justice, and American Suds.

The GuyProps Network has been rallying Facebook fans and the press to take part in a "Super Beer Boycott."

The organizers are taking aim at Anheuser-Busch, calling the company un-American in light of its acquisition by Belgium brewer InBev. At the Belgweiser Rebellion site, we are treated to some terrible singing and a moderate amount of cleavage, which is probably good, because they sent in the B squad for the chicks on the site.

The group's manifesto lashes out against price increases, U.S. layoffs and the punishment A-B employees have been forced to endure (namely, InBev allegedly eliminating a perk of two free cases of beer per month). Another source of outrage: No more free beer tastings at Busch Gardens and Sea World. "Shamu just isn't the same without a free beer!" the group said in its official statement.

Beer, Beer, Beer!!!!

Stella Light....the wife beater?

Has InBev gone native already? In what seems like an abomination, the Belgian brewer that recently inked a deal to acquire Anheuser Busch is planning a low-cal, and worse....... reduced-alcohol — version of Stella Artois

The whole branding campaign behind Stella is upscale and focused on quality - you’ve seen the short films in movie theaters. The brand is aimed squarely at urban professionals and beer snobs.
(At least, that’s so in North America. In England and some other places in Europe, the brand is associated with drunken soccer hooligans. The Brits have nicknamed it “wife beater.” )

InBev is testing a low calorie version of Stella Artois in Canada this summer, according to a Toronto newspaper.
The test could lead to a worldwide rollout, The Globe and Mail reported.
The test of Stella Artois Legere, which has been ongoing for about two months, has exceeded expectations, the paper reported.

This Bud's for Belgium

Much of Cindy McCain’s wealth traces to the Anheuser-Busch beer wholesaling company that her father started in 1955. She worked there for 20 years and took over in December 2000. At one point, her personalized license plates read “MS BUD.”
Sure, Cindy McCain is Ms. Bud. But there’s no truth whatsover that she’s a member of the Budweiser Thirst Patrol. None whatsover.

Politicians and Wall Streeters are starting to ask why the Belgian beer company InBev purchased Anheuser-Busch and not the other way around. Anheuser-Busch is an iconic American firm and some find it almost unpatriotic that Anheuser CEO August Busch IV allowed the "King of Beers" to relocate across the Atlantic -- though shareholders were the big winners here with a $50 billion-plus takeaway.

But here's the real question: Was the takeover basically financed by the savings Anheuser expected from escaping America's increasingly uncompetitive corporate tax system? According to the Tax Foundation, Belgium's corporate tax rate is 33%, but the effective tax rate can be half the nominal rate thanks to adjustments for something the OECD calls a "notional allowance for corporate equity." Bottom line: InBev was paying around 20% of its profits in corporate taxes, compared to Anheuser-Busch's rate of 38.4%.

Things have gotten pretty bad when U.S. companies relocate to Europe to cut their tax payments. But a research analysis by Morgan Stanley finds the combined company's corporate tax bill will be lower than in the U.S. and that the tax differential indeed figured into the economics of the sale.
So while John McCain may have benefited from his wife's ownership of Anheuser stock (estimated at between 40,000 and 80,000 shares), the country will continue to see its competitive edge wither away without a corporate tax rate cut. Mr. McCain to his credit wants to cut the corporate tax rate to 25%, close to the global average. Senator Obama is more interested in raising tax rates than cutting them.

Wall Street dealmakers tell us to expect more sales of U.S. companies to European rivals thanks to the combination of America's higher corporate taxes and the weak dollar. They're right. New data from the OECD for 2008 indicate that the international average for corporate tax rates fell by another percentage point last year, meaning the U.S. is pricing itself out of the market as a corporate headquarters. "America's 35% corporate tax rate is not just bad economics, it's downright unpatriotic," says tax expert Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute.

Drink it quick before those Belgian waffle humpers change the formula

C0lb3rt on Inbev taking over Anheuser-Busch
by pietergc

Last week's announcement that Belgium-based InBev was buying out Anheuser-Busch left some AB connoisseurs with tears in their beers. The protectionism inherent in such protests against the buyout is silly at best and dangerous at worst.

Since the deal was officially announced, Web sites like DrinkAmerican.us and SaveBudweiser.com have gathered individuals opposed to the foreign buyout. Artists like Phil McClary and Jeff Blackwell wrote songs in protest of the deal. “I was actually drinking a Bud Light when I heard, and I couldn't even finish it,” McClary said, according to CNN. “That's the honest-to-God truth.”
Right. Now stop whining and drink your beer.........

This Jupilers for you!

Amid all the patriotic tub-thumping about the recently sealed takeover of Anheuser-Busch, maker of all-American King of Beers Budweiser, by Belgian-Brazilian InBev, one vital fact has gotten lost.
Americans could soon get to drink a lot more, and more unusual, kinds of beers.

InBev says it's looking at "brand strategies" before deciding which new beers to ship across the pond. "Maybe we'll sell a Russian beer in the U.S.," says spokeswoman Marianne Amssoms. InBev owns four breweries in Russia, including one called Tinkov and one called Tolstiak.
READ WALL STREET JOURNAL

Bud for Belgium?

Anheuser-Busch (BUD) rose 6% after the Financial Times’Alphaville blog reported that Belgian brewer InBev is eyeing an acquisition of the St. Louis-based beer giant. The deal would be worth $46 billion, or $65 a share — a substantial premium to Anheuser’s $56-a-share price on Friday. Still, the report cites an unnamed source saying that InBev - brewer of Becks, Bass and Stella Artois - is “not about to push the button” yet.

Belgian Beer gaining popularity in the US

HOLD ONTO your frites, Philly, we've got another batch of Brussels sprouting.
Already home to four Belgian-style taverns, the city will see another three, plus two more in the near 'burbs, by the end of the summer.
If you haven't been paying attention, what's happening is a perfect storm of three trends:
Belgium is producing the most exciting, flavorful and exotic ales in the import market. READ MORE FROM JOE SIXPACK