Now first off, count me as a skeptic on this one. I mean seriously, no shuttle flight has ever taken some beer up into space with them to drink? No one ever cracked a beer on the international space station?

So how did a Natural Light end up in space? You guessed it: Facebook. Yep. Because nothing is ever allowed to happen nowadays unless it originated from Facebook. Natural Light is encouraging their Facebook fans to present an epic idea to Natty and they’ll put them into action (side note: love that the brand itself doesn’t even bother with calling it “Natural Light” – the fan page is actually called Natty Light).

Two of Natty Lights Facebook fans, Danny and Rich had the idea.  The spacecraft was launched on November 17, 2011 via weather balloon at approx 11:11am and landed back on earth at approx 1:45pm. The assent took about 2hrs rising to an altitude of 90,000ft+. The Aluminum Fullcan spacecraft landed 60 miles from the launch site and took Danny and Rich 2hrs to locate by gps. The spacecraft was composed of a styrofoam cooler carrying the first beer (full beer) in space on board, a gps tracking device, an HD video camera pointed at another (empty) can on the outside of the ship.

Now Natty Light is sharing photos of the beer that made the journey into space and are asking its Facebook fans what they should do with it.

Here’s video of the endeavor:

In an attempt to turn around a weakening market share in the US, Anheuser-Busch InBev announced yesterday that it was bringing another unnecessary product to market. Similar to the lame ducks of Bud Light Golden Wheat and Bud Light Lime introduced in recent years, AB is taking another long shot at success in Bud Light Platinum.

Instead of going the way of Michelob Ultra and the low-calorie, fit ‘n fun lifestyle, Platinum is reportedly going the other direction, with a boozier (6% alcohol vs. 4.2% for Bud Light) and more caloric (137 vs. 110) beverage.

Seems that AB has picked up the not-so-recent trend of giving people an amped up version of what we are already consuming – more fat, more salt, more sugar, and in this case more booze and calories. What more could we want as Americans?

My issue here is the lack of originality, inherent contradiction, and likely higher price point of this product.

As we all know, there are many beers with higher alcohol content, and often, calories. Fortunately, almost all of these beers taste better than a Bud Light. So what need does this product fill? Why would someone buy this?

Also, how can this beer be called “light” with its calorie infusion?

Finally, have you ever heard of a product with “platinum” in its name that didn’t have a markup?

AB has its work cut out if it wants this beer to sell. They have until January, and I have my doubts.

H/t to Huffington for the top picture.

Like many of you, during college I was not afraid to buy and drink a ton of the cheapest beer I could get my hands on – Stroh’s, Hamm’s, Schaefer, Old Milwaukee, among many others. And while many of these brands have been driven into obscurity, I recently read that old, reliable Pabst Blue Ribbon has been making a major comeback. As reported by Darren Rovell of CNBC:

“Fastest growing domestic beers over last yr by $ %: Pabst Blue Ribbon +14.5%, Yuengling +13%, Bud Select 55 +12.2%, Bud Ice +4.8%”

This was pretty stunning to me, but it probably shouldn’t have been. Thinking back, I recall recently seeing PBR offered in both dive bars and top shelf restaurants. Somehow, the marketing gurus behind this inexpensive, amber beverage have found a way to make it appealing to both the working class/college student, as well as the urban hipster/yuppie crowd.

Pabst is now seen as a cool brand, and touches a piece of nostalgia that giants Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors, and their huge marketing budgets, have not been able to tap into. Apparently, choosing your spots (see top), rather than wall-to-wall ads, can be a winning formula – even when up against an era of mass craft beer production.

It is hard to fake authenticity. And even though PBR is not a good tasting beer, it has carved its own niche into the culture, and the revenue uptick, among a landscape of decreasing profits, shows the bottom line.

What are your thoughts on Pabst? Are you an occasional partaker? Is it possible that the resurgence is related to their sterling new ad campaign?

The contenders we chose were:

1. Somersault (New Belgium)
2. MGD 64
3. Hamm’s
4. Michelob ULTRA
5. Red Stripe

“Right now we’re seeing a lot of beers turning dark brown, with Oktoberfest and pumpkin flavors raining down all over the shelves…”

“…Pretty soon we’ll be heading into the winter months, where we will see more aromatic, maltier ales gathering with hints of cloves, cinnamon, and apple….”

“…Springtime will herald a showering of lighter maibocks and perhaps some fruity beers…”

“…As things start to heat up again during the summer months, we’ll cool off with a snappy pilsner or a sunny IPA. That’s all for weather. Back to you, Kim!”

Got a beloved seasonal brew? Vote for your favorite beer season below, and let us know what local (or national) brewery you go for in the comments.

Chick Beer.

Would anyone, man or woman, ever want to be seen drinking this? For some reason I’m totally thinking about THIS right now.

In these dog days of summer, I will do anything to beat the heat.  Well, almost anything.

That important caveat is a direct result of a trip I took last weekend.  Driving back to town from a nearby swimming hole, with the sun scorching everything in its path, I pulled over at a convenience store in order to quench my thirst.  As usual, I carefully perused the glass-enclosed cooler, hoping to find just the right beverage.  Hmmm, Gatorade G2 Rain Lime?… or… wow, I haven’t had an ice-cold Yoo-Hoo in a month of Sundays.  But as my eyes keep exploring the myriad offerings, I got to something that I surely thought was a mirage, or maybe just an optical illusion.  It couldn’t be… could it?

I opened the case, seemingly breaking an ice crust like Ernest Shackleton’s footsteps to the south pole.  What I found defied explanation.  It was a beer – I recognized “Budweiser,” but it also said “Clamato” – and I know what that is too.  But in the same can?  As I looked around for the secret cameras to reveal this tragic scene, none appeared.  This was no joke.  This product actually exists.

Yes, beer + tomato/clam juice.

Who wouldn’t want to crack open a brew to find their favorite mediocre American lager accompanied by undertones of old seafood? Ahhhhhhhhh.

Seriously, has anyone tried this? Looking around on the inter-tubes, I found a beer review site that showcased comments such as these:

“Appearance: A disturbing pinkish color, like vomit pink, the appearance alone said, do not drink!”

“Somehow the brewers at Anheuser Busch managed to make one of the worst macros out there taste even worse.”

“This is plain terrible. This is otherwordly in its wretchedness. There’s a distinct vomit note, and I say that without hyperbole.”

“Oh dear god.  It’s like a Bloody Mary with a can of tuna juice dropped in.  Or wait, spaghettios!”

And all this can be yours for $7.99/6 pack!

If only Lemmonex was still around to knock back this cold one.

Chilling indeed.

Those of us follow the Nats closely have been going crazy watching Jayson the last month or two. His performance has been beyond a traditional slump, and has been downright painful and miserable to watch. Even more annoying for me? The worst of his slump seems to have kicked in right after I bought his jersey, which I rocked at a few Nats games but now am almost embarrassed to wear. (Note: ALMOST. I will still wear it).

So when a certain player is getting attention for a particularly good or bad performance, what better way for a business to attract attention from the hometown fans than a promotion about how good/bad they have been? That’s what Duffy’s was thinking, and they succeeded in an idea that will get them lots of free press. The deal? On Sunday, July 24th, come into Duffy’s to watch the Nats-Dodgers game at 4 pm and you can get a 16 oz PBR, Bud or High Life for the cost of Werth’s batting average (currently .212, but could get as low as .201 by then). Not to offend any fans, Duffy’s also points out on their Faceboook invite that they are “very happy to have Werth on our team and know he’ll turn it around very soon, we’re just having a little fun.”

I’ve always known Duffy’s for cheap beer and crispy, spicy wings (they fry them in peanut oil for extra crispiness and also make their own homemade hot sauce that is VERY peppery), so I was wondering how much of a savings this actually was for the consumer. Turns out, it will be. These beers go for $3 a pop during M-F happy hour, so they are probably slightly more on weekends. So whether Jayson Werth raises his batting average in the next couple days or not, you’re still saving around a buck a beer from normal prices. But the even better part of the promotion? If you are wearing Nats gear and he gets a hit, you get a free whiskey shot. Is it a free shot for each hit? I hope so. Because if I wear my Werth jersey to Duffy’s and he goes 4-for-5, I’ll be expecting 4 shots up in this piece. This isn’t a deal that’s going to save you an earth shattering amount of money, maybe a few bucks over the course of the game, but it is a fun way for a business to tie prices to a hometown team/players performance.

Well So Good readers, not all of us are DC based. What are your favorite performance/sports related promotions of this nature you’ve seen elsewhere in the country? Was it at a bar, restaurant, pub or other food/beverage establishment? Were all of them based on a teams success? Or have you seen interesting one’s based on a teams struggles?

While it pains me to write anything to do with the New York Yankees, the story about the fan that caught Jeter’s 3,000 hit, which happened to be a home run ball, is pretty cool.

A 23 year-old Yankees fan from just north of the city caught the famous ball, and then graciously offered to give the ball to Jeter at no cost.  In return, the fan received season tickets, pictures with Jeter, and the pu pu platter of all things Yankee (barf).  As a result of these gifts, it came out that the fan’s tax bill would likely be as high as $14k.  Indeed, no good deed goes unpunished.

At the same time as this tax news broke, some marketing genius at Miller sprang into action.  The result?  On Wednesday, Miller High Life said that they are covering the fan’s tax bill.

“Miller High Life believes you should be rewarded for doing the right thing, not penalized,” Miller High Life brand manager Brendan Noonan said in a statement. “We want to recognize Christian Lopez, and in turn everyone like him, for doing the common sense thing and help him continue to live the High Life.”

Is this a great idea or what?  For around $10k, which is chump change to the company, High Life comes up smelling like roses.  They are the hero for saving this underdog fan, which plays to their everyman image, they have inserted the brand into the national story of the New York Yankee captain’s milestone hit, and they look quick on their feet.  One of the main problems for so many large companies is that they are so slow to make decision and fail to strike when the iron is hot.  Here, High Life struck, and struck gold.

H/t to ESPN for the news, which, again, shows the ubiquitous coverage of this small gesture.

And yes, the Red Sox are still in first place…

Budweiser points out that the average man uses 5 gallons of water each time they shave. Apparently they also walk the walk and don’t mind having scruffy employees. They boast on their Facebook page:

In 2010, over 1,200 A-B employees saved 42,000 gallons of water by not shaving in the week leading up to World Environment Day.

Beardo alert! There were some scruffy dudes in that office that week. Water plays a big part in beer brewing, so Budweiser has made it a goal to reduce its own water usage. In the past three years, the brewer reduced its water use by 34 percent.

One question: where is the gender equality? Shouldn’t Budweiser also ask women to not shave in the week leading up to World Environment Day? Somehow I’m guessing women with hairy legs don’t play quite as much into the image Budweiser is trying to portray as bearded men does.

Well So Good readers, any thoughts on this campaign? Random? Cute? Amusing? A good cause? Stupid? Also,