Business Law Term Paper
Business Law I | Anheuser-Busch: Drink Responsibly | |
Tim Burkhart
8/18/2011
|
When Eberhard Anheuser purchased a brewery that was going bankrupt, he could never have imagined that it would one day grow into the largest brewing company in the world. In 1869, Mr. Anheuser’s son-in-law, Adolphus Busch became a partner in the business and immediately started touring Europe studying brewing methods and focused on the success of a popular style known as Bohemian lager (Anheuser-Busch - Wikipedia). Today Anheuser-Busch operates 12 breweries throughout the U.S., has a 48.9% market share in beer sales, employs approximately 114,000 workers worldwide (Anheuser-Busch InBev - In a few facts) and produces approximately 11 billion bottles and cans of beer a year (Anheuser-Busch - Wikipedia). In 2008 the Busch family reluctantly sold to a Brazilian-Belgian brewing company by the name of InBev. This merged two of the top four breweries in terms of revenue in the world. Even though Anheuser-Busch claims to run a socially responsible corporation they continue to market products to underage drinkers. Albeit they claim their intent is not towards an underage market, beer sales would decline drastically with the elimination of underage drinking. Their slogan “Drink Responsibly” is directly aimed at the younger generation who binge drink. Your typical responsible adult should know that alcohol is OK in moderation and doesn’t need to be reminded to be responsible. By continuing to release products that are aimed at a sub-21 year old crowd, Anheuser-Busch is stretching their market share. Products such as B-to-the-E beer (released in 2005) and Spykes (released 2007) were pulled from distribution, only after industry watchdogs raised concerns with mixing alcohol and energy drinks. B-to-the-E beer was probably the first beer mixed with an energy drink. The effects of mixing depressants and stimulants are extremely dangerous. This allows the person to
Tim Burkhart
8/18/2011
|
When Eberhard Anheuser purchased a brewery that was going bankrupt, he could never have imagined that it would one day grow into the largest brewing company in the world. In 1869, Mr. Anheuser’s son-in-law, Adolphus Busch became a partner in the business and immediately started touring Europe studying brewing methods and focused on the success of a popular style known as Bohemian lager (Anheuser-Busch - Wikipedia). Today Anheuser-Busch operates 12 breweries throughout the U.S., has a 48.9% market share in beer sales, employs approximately 114,000 workers worldwide (Anheuser-Busch InBev - In a few facts) and produces approximately 11 billion bottles and cans of beer a year (Anheuser-Busch - Wikipedia). In 2008 the Busch family reluctantly sold to a Brazilian-Belgian brewing company by the name of InBev. This merged two of the top four breweries in terms of revenue in the world. Even though Anheuser-Busch claims to run a socially responsible corporation they continue to market products to underage drinkers. Albeit they claim their intent is not towards an underage market, beer sales would decline drastically with the elimination of underage drinking. Their slogan “Drink Responsibly” is directly aimed at the younger generation who binge drink. Your typical responsible adult should know that alcohol is OK in moderation and doesn’t need to be reminded to be responsible. By continuing to release products that are aimed at a sub-21 year old crowd, Anheuser-Busch is stretching their market share. Products such as B-to-the-E beer (released in 2005) and Spykes (released 2007) were pulled from distribution, only after industry watchdogs raised concerns with mixing alcohol and energy drinks. B-to-the-E beer was probably the first beer mixed with an energy drink. The effects of mixing depressants and stimulants are extremely dangerous. This allows the person to
Bibliography: Anheuser Busch | Follow the Money. (n.d.). Retrieved August 14, 2011, from Follow the Money: http://www.followthemoney.org/database/topcontributor.phtml?u=207 Anheuser-Busch - Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved August 8, 2011, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch InBev - In a few facts. (n.d.). Retrieved August 8, 2011, from Anheuser-Busch InBev Corporation Web Site: http://www.ab-inbev.com/go/about_abinbev/our_company/in_a_few_facts.cfm Beer Advocate. (n.d.). Retrieved August 11, 2011, from BeerAdvocate.com: http://www.beeradvocate.com Staff, B. (2006, May 9). Hansen Natural Corporation and Anheuser-Busch Announce Distribution Deal: BevNET.com. Retrieved August 14, 2011, from BevNET.com Corporation Web site: http://www.bevnet.com/news/headlines/2006/05-09-2006-hansen_monster_anheuser_busch_bud_distribution.asp/