R.I.P.--Rest in Pabst

The above picture is of Bill Bramanti of Chicago Heights, IL. Because of his love for finely crafted Pabst Blue Ribbon beer--headquartered only an hour away in Woodridge, IL--at the tender age of 67, Bill had this custom coffin made, modeled after a can of his favorite brew.

When I first read this article I thought the coffin was made for him by Pabst due to his loyalty to the brand, which is pretty obvious. (He's already tried the coffin out. He fit.) I thought, how brilliant is that! A company responding to brand loyalty in kind, especially in the Midwest where people eat up loyalty (and old school American beer, see PBR, Budweiser, Miller High Life). Turns out he paid for it.

However, this could be an interesting marketing move for Pabst, who also owns some serious old-school brands like Old Milwaukee, Piel's, Schaeffer, Schlitz, Schmidt's and Stroh's. Yeah, Pabst owns all of those. What better way to give back to a customer base that made PBR one of the top beers in the country through the 1970s!

And why stop with Pabst? Americans LOVE their beer. And have you ever tasted Budweiser? I love beer too, but I'd rather drink old milk through a used sweatstock. Still, it's the most popular selling beer in the country--the world. Granted, giving away coffins might lead to thoughts of Hey, it's the least we can do. We helped put you in here. So perhaps coffins aren't the way to go. But what's more American than sitting around some grilling meat with friends and a few cold ones. So give back! I want to see more giveaways of beer-branded barbeques, trailer hitches, chest waders, gun racks and hunter orange (trust me, it'll work).

Know your audience people! Marlboro knew this, and through Marlboro miles began "giving away" branded tents, pool tables and leather jackets. I still have a Marlboro CD player, and I only smoked for like three weeks back in 9th grade. Of course, "the man" stepped in and cut them short. But beer companies, there's an audience out there that already loves you. So give back to them. Keep their love. Lest, they be wooed by the frightening cyber-waitresses of Heineken.

You've been warned.

Oh, but Bramanti doesn't plan on kicking it anytime soon. So what does he do with his sturdy, new living room conversation piece? What else--use it as a cooler, fillled with refreshing Pabst Blue Ribbon beeer. That guy's awesome.

--Captain Awesome, Project Specialist

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Phillip Morris: Happy Trails, Marlboro Man

Ad Age recently ran a write-up on the Marlboro Man going MIA. In the US, Phillip Morris put the clamp on measured media spending for cigarettes, and 2006 marked the first year the stetsoned smoke hound and his trusty stud were absent from the ad range since 1955.

That in itself is of little concern when you consider the net results. While media spending has plummeted, Marlboro’s market share's climbed faster than a monkey on PCP. For some, it may be tough to wrap their head around the equation. Less add spending equals more market share? Sounds counterintuitive. But consider the fact that cigarettes were chased out of the traditional ad channels (namely TV and radio) long ago, leaving print to carry the weight. Now, it appears the sun has set on that channel, too.

The range has changed. Advertising is more about instant gratification, more sophisticated demographic targeting, and personal interaction. There’s a new sheriff in town. Actually, there’s a bunch of new sheriffs, and they’re wielding online coupons and free swag. The Internet and Point-of-Sale promotions have shaped the new frontier. They’re more immediate, more interactive. And they play perfectly to a consumer base with a contemporary attention span (read: short) that demands more. And while many consumers believe that smoking is cool, smoking while wearing the visor and t-shirt that came free with the carton ($2.00 off with online coupon) is like breaking the sound barrier of awesomeness!

With that said, I can’t help but ask: have we just made it a lot easier (and a lot less expensive) for tobacco companies to reach consumers? Traditional media buys swallow ad budgets whole while POS and interactive tactics cost a relative pittance, yet have produced some impressive results. By forcing tobacco companies out of the mass advertising venues, we've encouraged them to get a little more creative, and in the process, get a better ROI from every ad dollar they spend. They’ve adapted like those dinosaurs in Jurassic Park that found a way to breed anyway. And, well, we all saw how that ended.

So, while the cowboy has moseyed onward to the big ad Valhalla, we're left to wonder: does it really matter? The scary truth is that Phil’s doing just fine without him.

Ashes to ashes, my chain-smoking compadre.

-M.M. McDermott, Senior Copywriter

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