27 September 2011

Stella Artois Attempting to Out-Ritualize Guinness in Pouring

Guinness has long been far more about marketing its brand and image as an integral part of some mythical Irish cultural ethos, presumably written into the Irish Constitution somewhere.  Part of that marketing has been hyping the supposed "ritual" of pouring a "proper pint of Guinness," down to pouring a rendering of a shamrock into the head.  (Step One: "Take a clean glass."  Step Six: "sip."  Come on, folks.)

Well, Stella Artois, in a press release just received here, has apparently upped the pretentiousness of the whole "ritual" for their beer by fifty percent:
Taking the Belgian beer experience to new heights of perfectly poured sophistication, Stella Artois is bringing its World Draught Masters competition, an annual event that honors beer connoisseurs’ mastery of the Stella Artois 9-Step Pouring Ritual, to DC.
On Oct. 7, U.S. finalists from across the country will rendezvous at the celebrated National Building Museum to vie for the chance to move on to the global finals in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
I think I shall count the steps I go through for my next pint of real ale.  I'm sure I could inflate it to 25 or so with little effort.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why don't they fire the people who come up with this shite and use their salaries to hand out free beer.

That's good marketing.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV said...

Fair question.

But marketing is all about how to get people to BUY your beer, not how to get rid of it as fast as possible. I've little doubt that, buried deep somewhere in the psychology of this marketing and hype, there's a definite methodology insofar as attempting to make Stella Artois seem more complex, cosmopolitan, and sophisticated than it actually is. I mean, it all worked so well for Guinness over the decades.