suds series vol 3

Today is my favorite blog post of the series so far. We get to look at the advertising campaigns of Budweiser and Miller and see if we can figure out who has done it better over the years.

Miller, you have one of the best ad campaigns in history (according to Advertising Age) with your "Great Taste, Less Filling" one-liner.
You also have the Wiener Dog Drag Racing Commercial, which I remember from my childhood:

But honestly, it's the ONLY campaign I remember from Miller. Readers, you may feel otherwise, but I have never been as impressed with the ad campaign for Miller as I have been for Budweiser.

Budweiser has, among other things: the frogs. Who doesn't remember Bud-Weis-Errrrrrr?

Sure, there was the irritating Wassup commercial:

But I think ultimately, one of the best ad campaigns in recent memory was actually radio commercials that aired in the Midwest. Real Men of Genius. Below, my favorite of the series, Mr. Rolling Cooler Cooler Roller. You have to listen to the guy singing in the background, and his asides, to get the full effect.

Miller's radio campaign that can compare just isn't as funny, although you can tell that they're trying.

Budweiser also had the ULTIMATE ad campaign going for many years during the Superbowl. Budweiser or Bud Light in the BudBowl? When I was a kid, and didn't understand football, I would watch the Superbowl just to see the BudBowl. I always thought growing up that Bud Light won every year, but according to Wikipedia, it was Budweiser 6, Bud Light 2.

This one isn't even a question. Budweiser, you may lose a few points for the "Wassup" campaign, but you redeemed yourself. The Wiener Dogs just can't beat Real Men of Genius. You win this round!

St Louis: 2
Milwaukee: 1

Tomorrow: brewery tours!

suds series vol 2

Tonight, in our ongoing Suds Series, St. Louis vs. Milwaukee, we look at mascots: both in the baseball realm and in the beer realm.

First up, baseball. The Brewers have Bernie Brewer: A blonde haired, blue-eyed, mustachioed drunken man who slides down a beer slide every time the Brewer's hit a homerun. In theory: awesome. But in practice, not quite as cool. Why, might you ask? Well, when actually at the game, Bernie has to stay really close to his "dugout" in the outfield so that he can be ready to slide down his slide whenever the Brewers are up. This limits the amount of interaction that Bernie can have with the fans. He leaves it to the Bratwursts to hang out in the stands and throw t-shirts to the crowd. Sure, the Brewers gave us the Sausage Race. But do you really want a hot dog dressed up in a baseball outfit or a bratwurst  wearing lederhosen giving you free things? Well, maybe.

The Cardinals have the ever-popular FredBird. 

FredBird is admittedly more fan-friendly (and kid-friendly) than Bernie. He hangs out in the stands, runs around with flags when the Cardinals win, has a build-a-bear (bird?) store in Busch Stadium, and likes to touch people with his beak -- in a good way, of course. Michael's niece and nephew both love FredBird.

Sausage Race? Beer Slides? Or touching fans with your beak? Hmmm. Let's think about this while we ponder the mascots of the breweries.

Budweiser has a slew of mascots: Bevo Fox, the Dalmatian, the Clydesdales, the Eagle (All American!), Spuds MacKenzie, the frogs, the lizards, the penguins. I think there isn't an animal on earth that Budweiser hasn't used to promote their beverages. Next thing you know they'll be using red pandas or something.

Bevo Fox

And yet, when I google Miller Beer mascot, this is the first thing that comes up:

Miller!! Seriously?! It's a beer bottle holding more beer bottles. Yes, you have The Girl in the Moon. And apparently a beer bottle mascot type thing. But I don't think it's going to cut it against all of those animals listed up there.

So where does that leave us? I think that because Miller can't even come up with a decent mascot, despite the beer slide and bratwurst race at the stadium, it's tipping in favor of Budweiser.

We are all tied up:

St. Louis: 1
Milwaukee: 1

Tomorrow: advertising!

suds series vol 1

Michael Lober here. As some of the loyal readers of Lauren's blog might know, I hail from the great beer city of St. Louis, where Budweiser and the baseball Cardinals are religions. Our baseball stadium is named Busch, the only beer available there carries the label "Bud," and it's surprising that our mascot isn't a pint. In all honesty, I find Budweiser rather terrible--a watered-down, tasteless alcohol liquid--but it's MY terrible beer.

Anyway, I bring this up because the mighty St. Louis Cardinals suddenly find themselves locked in a battle with the Milwaukee Brewers, those hosers from the north that claim the title of America's brew-town. Granted, they love their beer up there in Milwaukee and there are some excellent microbrews, but I'm not interested in that now. It seems to me that the only fair way to contrast the cities is through a showdown between their flagship beers: Budweiser vs. Miller. It's on.

I never buy Budweiser, think Bud Light Lime is just crappy beer dashed with lemon juice, and would choose pretty much any beverage over Bud Light; but if someone says that Miller is better than Budweiser, I suddenly become an irrational champion of my hometown brew. Budweiser is the best! Miller is just Lake Michigan water put through a strainer! Come on, it's not even a comparison!

OK, obviously, I can't be a judge between the two companies. But Lauren can. So I propose the following this week at Super Cool Bottle Caps: a Suds Series between Budweiser and Miller, the arch city of St. Louis vs. the beer-and-cheese berg of Milwaukee. Best of five, with categories ranging between mascots, advertising, local microbrews, brewery tours, varieties, and, of course, bottle caps. I'll have no hand in the outcome, nor will the outcome have anything to do with the Cardinals vs. Brewers series. Lauren is the judge, juror, and jailer. So take it away!

Hi, Lauren here!  Obviously, I  have written about St. Louis and Milwaukee before on this blog (probably ad nauseum), BUT what better time than now to discuss all things St. Louis vs. Milwaukee and base it entirely on beer? I will be impartial. As always, I would love to hear my dear reader's thoughts -- that is what the comment section is for!

So let's start tonight with the most important -- to me, at least. Bottle caps. Obviously I don't have every bottle cap at my disposal from the many years of brewing for both of these storied breweries. But I have what I have, and I have a *little* bit of knowledge outside of that. For this series, and this one only, I will be pulling some images off the web to fill a few gaps in my collection.

Budweiser Classic Bottle cap vs. Miller Classic Bottle cap:

So, what do we have here? And how far down the chain do we want to go? Just stick with classic? Does the Girl in the Moon count as classic or is it really just MGD? Do we want Bud Light and Miller Light? Miller High Life and Bud Light Lime? There are so many ways to go. As Michael mentioned above, this is a 7-game series, so I say stick with the classic -- and let's make it a fair fight. We can always come back for more.

Budweiser: we have the bowtie, the A with the eagle, the proud line: "King of Beers."
With Miller, dark background, some gold, some white lettering. No mascot, no logo. Just text.

I feel like if you look at both, Miller just has a stronger, bolder look to it. Sure, there is no mascot, but do you need it with that bold, black forceful bottle cap? I don't think so. Sure, the beer may taste like Lake Michigan water (Michael's words, not mine!) but damn, don't you want to drink it if you just took a look at that bottle cap?? The Budweiser - eh, it kind of looks off-center, it doesn't flow...

And even if you compare it to the Miller High Life bottle cap, which also has the bowtie thing goin' on, it just doesn't have that bold look:

 Sorry Budweiser. You lose the first round. Luckily we have 6 more to go!

St Louis: 0
Milwaukee: 1

Tomorrow: Mascots. (Beer AND Baseball)

three stooges

When I first realized there was a Three Stooges beer, I was in St. Louis at the restaurant Blueberry Hill (owned by Chuck Berry). In the hallway near the bathrooms, BH has some fascinating display cases with pictures of famous people who have been to the restaurant and also some great collections of tv, music, and movie memorabilia. My favorite was the Beatles display, but, on my way out, something else caught my eye: a display of Three Stooges memorabilia, complete with the Three Stooges Beer, made by Panther Brewing Co.  Clearly, I missed the boat on this beer when it was being made, but that didn't mean I couldn't go on a quest to find the bottlecaps, which feature Larry, Moe, and Curley on them.

It didn't take too long, what with the internet and all. A search on eBay produced exactly what I wanted: a complete set of Three Stooges bottle caps -- with BOTH Curley crowns.

I have spoken about TV shows and their fake beers before and how there needs to be more fake-to-real beers made. I have also spoken about Monty Python's Holy Grail Ale and the awesomeness that is their bottle cap. But this is the first time I've seen the actual TV/movie stars ON the bottle caps. And who better than the Stooges? Maybe the Marx Brothers, but that might be asking a lot.

Is there a Beatles Beer that I'm not aware of with John, Paul, George and Ringo on the bottle caps? Someone should get on that, stat.

By the way, I think it goes without saying that these are definitely Hall of Famers.

And a last note, here is Moe, Slap Happy. Enjoy!

colt 45

Michael and I love to explore a new neighborhood. Recently we visited a friend who just bought an apartment in Clinton Hill, and we were on our way over to have dinner on his fabulous roof deck and check out the new pad. Apartment envy set in.

But on our way over to the gorgeous new apartment, I was scanning the streets for new and unusual bottle caps -- something different than the Heineken, Smirnoff, and Coronas that I usually find on my street.

Just my luck: a (slightly beat up) Colt 45 was right in front of me, glinting in the sun.

Colt 45 is one of those beverages that I am HAPPY to pick up off the street, if it means that I never actually have to drink one. And it's not to be confused with the other kind of Colt 45, which I hope no one ever finds on the street. That's just dangerous.

Anywhoo, this malt liquor bottle cap is fancier than I thought it would be. It has a bold blue Colt 45, proudly announces that it's malt liquor (why would you do that?!) and also has a horseshoe and a horse, bucking in said horseshoe. There is also the background silver/white Colt 45 name repeated underneath the blue. It's almost TOO busy for its own good. But I admire what they're trying to do there.

goose island

I will admit it: My mom totally encourages this blog. (Hi mom!) She sends me emails when she likes posts, and you may have even seen a comment or two from her on here.

But mostly, she tells me that she's been on the lookout for bottle caps for me, and now, every time I go home, there's a pile of crowns and usually a beer or soda for me to bring home with me. She even promised that she'd take me on a beer run in a few weeks. Score!

Last time I went home, she presented me with a nice haul. One of the crowns included in the pile is Goose Island, a beer hailing from the Windy City.

Goose Island also makes soda, which I've managed to find on my own.

Both of these bottle caps fit the bill, but I'm guessing, dear readers, that you can pick out which one I like better.

Yep, its the one with the goose on it. How can you not like a goose head on a bottle cap? It goes nicely with a Duck-Rabbit bottlecap. Maybe the goose and the duck/rabbit can be friends? Someone should write a children's story about it. I'm telling you, that idea is GOLDEN. Almost like a goose that laid golden eggs.

schweppes

Sometimes, you have one of those days where everything just lines up the way you want them to.

As I believe I've mentioned before, Michael is a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan. In 2006, when the Cardinals won the World Series, he had a few superstitions going, one of which included drinking a Schweppes Ginger Ale while watching every game.

When I mentioned to this to my mom this morning, she said that I should definitely blog about Schweppes, and I said that I couldn't because I didn't have a Schweppes bottle cap!

Lo and behold: today, on our walk to the deli to get a Schweppes, what did I see on the ground, calling up to me?

A Schweppes bottle cap! Now, I swear, I have NEVER seen Schweppes in a glass bottle in my neighborhood. Yet, there it was, top-up in a tree planter.

I think it's a sign that the Cardinals are going to win tonight. I hope I didn't just jinx it.