A Rose by Any Other Name
This bottle bears the words "Original" and "Budweiser," but is it the original Budweiser? Is it even claiming to be the original Budweiser, or is it just proclaiming its name and making a distinct claim about its originality? I'd heard rumors about another Budweiser, the "original" Budweiser as it is sometimes called, so naturally when I found it in our local supermarket, I was curious.
First things first -- this beer is almost as bad as its American counterpart. It actually seems to have that same cheap beer flavor. So as far as the taste, I have nothing more to report. The controversy about the name, however, that's a far more interesting story.
In one sense, our own home grown Anheuser-Busch Budweiser is the original. The company started using the name "Budweiser" in 1876, and it trademarked the name two years latter. Budejovicky Budvar, the company that makes the Czech Budweiser, didn't start making beer until 1895.
The story gets a little more complicated, however. The term "Budweiser" is an adjective to describe things or people from Budweis, the former name of the town where the Czech Budweiser is now made. Before either Anheuser-Busch or Budejovicky Budvar began selling Budweiser, many other beers bore that name, sometimes as a designation of their origin, other times as a reference to particular brewing methods associated with the town of Budweis. In fact, well into the twentieth century, many American breweries offered a "Budweiser" variety, in the same way that breweries today offer Pilsners (from the brewing methods that originated in Pilzen) and Kolschs (from the brewing method that originated in Cologne). So from the standpoint of the Czech Budweiser, the American Budweiser committed a category mistake by taking a generic kind term and turning it into a proper name.
Americans and Europeans disagree on this subject. American courts have awarded the name to Anheuser-Bush, and thus in the United States the Czech beer goes by the name of "Czechvar." The European Union, on the other hand, holds that "Budweiser" is a protected regional designation like "Champagne," "Parmesan," "Feta," and "Kolsch." Yes, in Europe cheese can only be called Feta if it comes from Greece, and beer can only be called Kolsch if it comes from Cologne. We Americans don't observe these rules. In some cases, the Europeans don't either. For instance, any beer can be a Pilsner, regardless of where it comes from.
Since Anheuser-Busch's beer doesn't come from Budvar (or Budweis), it can't go by the name of Budweiser. In France it simply goes by the name of "Bud." Short. Elegant. I don't know what it is called in Ireland, but apparently its one of the best selling lagers their. Maybe it tastes better there, since it's brewed (and marketed) by Guinness.
Until sometime in the 1970s, Budweiser wasn't allowed in Germany. That's right. Budweiser failed to meet the Reinheitsgebot, the German law requiring the beer only have four ingredients -- water, barely, hops, and yeast. The American Budweiser includes rice. Oh, the horror. Once allowed in Germany, the beer went by the rather unwieldy name "Anheuser-Busch Bud."
Relations between Budweiser and Germany became even better when Budweiser payed 40 million dollars for the right to be the exclusive beer of the 2008 World Cup. This meant that only Budweiser could be served and advertised in the soccer stadiums. In defense of Budweiser, they didn't know the World Cup would be held in Germany when they bought the rights.
The Germans were displeased, to put it mildly. One politician said, "We have a duty to public welfare and must not poison visitors to World Cup venues." A now defunct website, "www.budout.de" showed an American Eagle puking beer. Perhaps most amusingly, a German court ruled that "Anheuser-Busch Bud," or just "Bud" for short, sounded too much like "Bit," the nickname for the German beer Bitburger. They ruled that Bud needed to change its name again to avoid copyright infringement. Yes, copyright infringement, because the shortened form of the name sounded too much like the nickname of another beer, because Bud sounded too much like Bit. As a compromise, Bud was allowed to keep its name, but Bit was allowed to sell its beer in the soccer stadium, though only in unmarked cups.
For those of you who don't yet have vacation plans for the summer of 2010, the World Cup is in South Africa, and once again Budweiser will be its official beer.
First things first -- this beer is almost as bad as its American counterpart. It actually seems to have that same cheap beer flavor. So as far as the taste, I have nothing more to report. The controversy about the name, however, that's a far more interesting story.
In one sense, our own home grown Anheuser-Busch Budweiser is the original. The company started using the name "Budweiser" in 1876, and it trademarked the name two years latter. Budejovicky Budvar, the company that makes the Czech Budweiser, didn't start making beer until 1895.
The story gets a little more complicated, however. The term "Budweiser" is an adjective to describe things or people from Budweis, the former name of the town where the Czech Budweiser is now made. Before either Anheuser-Busch or Budejovicky Budvar began selling Budweiser, many other beers bore that name, sometimes as a designation of their origin, other times as a reference to particular brewing methods associated with the town of Budweis. In fact, well into the twentieth century, many American breweries offered a "Budweiser" variety, in the same way that breweries today offer Pilsners (from the brewing methods that originated in Pilzen) and Kolschs (from the brewing method that originated in Cologne). So from the standpoint of the Czech Budweiser, the American Budweiser committed a category mistake by taking a generic kind term and turning it into a proper name.
Americans and Europeans disagree on this subject. American courts have awarded the name to Anheuser-Bush, and thus in the United States the Czech beer goes by the name of "Czechvar." The European Union, on the other hand, holds that "Budweiser" is a protected regional designation like "Champagne," "Parmesan," "Feta," and "Kolsch." Yes, in Europe cheese can only be called Feta if it comes from Greece, and beer can only be called Kolsch if it comes from Cologne. We Americans don't observe these rules. In some cases, the Europeans don't either. For instance, any beer can be a Pilsner, regardless of where it comes from.
Since Anheuser-Busch's beer doesn't come from Budvar (or Budweis), it can't go by the name of Budweiser. In France it simply goes by the name of "Bud." Short. Elegant. I don't know what it is called in Ireland, but apparently its one of the best selling lagers their. Maybe it tastes better there, since it's brewed (and marketed) by Guinness.
Until sometime in the 1970s, Budweiser wasn't allowed in Germany. That's right. Budweiser failed to meet the Reinheitsgebot, the German law requiring the beer only have four ingredients -- water, barely, hops, and yeast. The American Budweiser includes rice. Oh, the horror. Once allowed in Germany, the beer went by the rather unwieldy name "Anheuser-Busch Bud."
Relations between Budweiser and Germany became even better when Budweiser payed 40 million dollars for the right to be the exclusive beer of the 2008 World Cup. This meant that only Budweiser could be served and advertised in the soccer stadiums. In defense of Budweiser, they didn't know the World Cup would be held in Germany when they bought the rights.
The Germans were displeased, to put it mildly. One politician said, "We have a duty to public welfare and must not poison visitors to World Cup venues." A now defunct website, "www.budout.de" showed an American Eagle puking beer. Perhaps most amusingly, a German court ruled that "Anheuser-Busch Bud," or just "Bud" for short, sounded too much like "Bit," the nickname for the German beer Bitburger. They ruled that Bud needed to change its name again to avoid copyright infringement. Yes, copyright infringement, because the shortened form of the name sounded too much like the nickname of another beer, because Bud sounded too much like Bit. As a compromise, Bud was allowed to keep its name, but Bit was allowed to sell its beer in the soccer stadium, though only in unmarked cups.
For those of you who don't yet have vacation plans for the summer of 2010, the World Cup is in South Africa, and once again Budweiser will be its official beer.
2 comments:
Buds
The beer research was awe inspiring. It could be considered an elequent begining to a disertation on Bud, requiring much field research to cooroberate the clear academic work.
Love the Blog guys -- thanks
Signed
The late night slave of capitalism
Late night? How late? If I were ever to stay up late working, I would be "the late night slave to truth." So far, though, the truth has been a gentle master.
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