Budweiser and the Selling of America

I happen to have bought an eighteen-pack of Budweiser cans on the day before Anheuser-Busch announced a temporary renaming of its flagship beer. From summer until the election in November, the King of Beers will be called—and labelled—“America.” By way of explanation, an executive declared that, with the upcoming Centennial Copa America, and the Summer Olympics, and, of course, the Presidential campaign, “we are embarking on what should be the most patriotic summer that this generation has ever seen.”