AB InBev Finally Making Deal With US Over Modelo

Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, which controls close to 19 percent of the globe’s beer market, has been trying to buy Mexico’s Grupo Modelo SAB, which owns close to 3 percent of the world’s beer market, for months now, only held up by the pesky US government, which thought the merger could mean too much power for AB InBev. 

The two sides have been talking since at least February about how a deal might be structured so that everybody gets what they want. And now, just days before the two sides were requested to report to a US District Judge, the word on the street is that they have come to an agreement, Bloomberg.com reports.

In order to have this merger occur, Modelo will have to “sell control of all its brands in the US, as well as a brewery it built in Piedras Negras, Mexico, to Constellation Brands (STZ), a winemaker and drink-distribution company,” Bloomberg reports. As part of the new agreement, InBev “gave up an option to buy back a stake in Crown Imports LLC, the US distributor of Corona and the other Modelo brands.” Crown will end up being owned by Constellation.Continue reading...

Gun Company Fires Back at Tommy Guns Vodka

Chicago mobsters back in the days of Al Capone favored a submachine gun known as the Tommy gun, which was then glorified in plenty of films and books about the era. But Tommy guns aren’t some relic of history. Saeilo Enterprises still makes them, and the owners aren’t very happy with Alphonse Capone Enterprises and its Tommy Guns Vodka, which is sold in a bottle shaped like the famous gun.

In fact, they are so annoyed that a lawsuit has been filed, the Chicago Tribune reports. Saeilo wants all of the Tommy Guns Vodka that is left to be turned over so it can all be destroyed. (Consumption counts as destroying, right?)Continue reading...

Heineken’s Star Bottle Arrives Stateside with New Campaign

Heineken’s new taller, sleeker and starred bottle is already available in 170 countries and is now being rolled out in the United States with a new “Arrive Big” ad campaign featuring the brand’s “Man of the World” in such exotic locations as Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Lagos, Nigeria and New York City. In each location, the protagonist finds himself in prickly situations at various clubs, yet somehow ends up with the girl and the beer (and an #arrivebig hashtag, to boot) in the end.

“Our priority is to ‘break the mold’ in beer marketing with cinematic, sophisticated ads that feature our ‘Man of the World,’ a progressive, cultured guy, who is inventive in any situation,” said Colin Westcott-Pitt, vice president of Heineken, in a press release. Heineken doesn’t go so far as to pull a New Coke move and break the mold inside the bottle, of course.Continue reading...

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Absolut Vodka looks to Cirque du Soleil for inspiration.

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Absolut vodka is famed for collaborating with artists such as Keith Haring on unique limited-edition bottles. Now it's making every bottle a unique limited edition, in a global campaign that's shipping nearly four million individually designed bottles, each one as and unique as a proverbial snowflake by combining 38 bright colors and 51 abstract patterns.

According to the press release for the Absolut Unique campaign (tagline: "One of a kind. Millions of expressions"), its production team of robot artists were programmed with algorithms to ensure that no two bottles are alike: "To make every bottle become a one-of-a-kind work of art, ABSOLUT had to re-engineer the entire production process."Continue reading...

Pernod Ricard’s recent "Responsib'All Day" action mobilized employees on five continents in its second annual day of service dedicated to education about responsible drinking. Its "mentor and messenger" efforts reached 18,000 employees worldwide in major cities including Sydney, Shanghai, New Delhi, Tokyo, Johannesburg and São Paulo, and UK-based staff from subsidiaries the Absolut Company and Premium Wine Brands.

"We have been promoting responsible drinking for more than 30 years. At Responsib'All Day, all of our employees are mobilised to help make things change. As a company, we are resolutely dedicated to strengthening our engagement with public authorities and NGOs to fight inappropriate drinking habits," stated Pernod Ricard CEO Pierre Pringuet in a press release.

Pernod Ricard USA’s Facebook platform, dubbed Here’s To Tomorrow, “will attempt to spark a social movement through a platform that encourages parents to take an immediate positive approach in discussing drinking with their underage children today in order to effect a better tomorrow.” With only 115 likes on its campaign Facebook page since launching a week ago, however, it's clearly not as easy to spark a social movement as the French alcohol brand purveyor may think.Continue reading...

Gap, J.Crew and other retailers slash prices, as stores try to thwart price apps, and tweak websites to spur sales.

A&W is sold by Yum! Brands to A Great American Brand.

Absolut celebrates 30 years of gay ads.

Adidas pursues church for trademark infringement; church asks Derrick Rose to intercede.

Akamai purchases cloud rival.

Apple isn't expected to produce a smaller iPad, although fuel-cell MacBooks are rumored. Apple's online sales also exceed Walmart.com results.

AT&T's $1.93 billion deal for Qualcomm's airwaves approved.

Bebe expands with wedding collection.

Best Buy criticized for not fulfilling some holiday online orders.

BT's long-running family campaign in the UK ends its run.

Burberry, Forever 21 and Zara score on Facebook.Continue reading...

No ink, no paint, and 100% cellulose paper. Too little ingredients for a bus ad for a big brand like ABSOLUT, right? Wrong. Those ingredients are what artist Simon Schubert and the brand's marketers feel best represents purity, or, "ABSOLUT Purity".

ABSOLUT Vodka is featuring the poster, above, in an Avenue de l’Opéra bus shelter in Paris. It consists of a single sheet of blank paper using only folds and shadows playing off lighting. That means no ink, no chlorine, and no color. The dramatic poster is meant to portray the multi-sided bottle the brand produced for holiday imbibing and New Year's ringing in, an eye-catching limited edition gift.

See more of the campaign in the video below:Continue reading...