Thursday, May 22, 2003

The ultimate argument against globalisation

Perhaps in the same way that Chinese people are likely bewildered by what is sold as "chinese food" around the world, the Irish Guinness drinker could well be horrified at some of the experiments the once Irish company is conducting with the nectar of the Gods -- in the safety of other countries. In today's Wall Street Journal -- not standard fare in Dublin's autentic (sic) bars, I know -- we learn the following:

That Guinness experimented with FastPour technology in English pubs, to get the process of pulling a pint of stout down from 2 minutes to 25 seconds. In what must be seen as a tribute to the English pubgoer, the drinkers were very unimpressed, and bar owners were not too keen either:
Bar owners felt [the 2 minute pour] creates some theater in the bar. [Guinness spokeswoman]

By which I don't think they were referring to the fights that break out after excessive consumption. But that doesn't mean that other attempts at marketing to infidels will be shelved:

Guinness is in the midst of a three-month trial in Tokyo of a new system dubbed Guinness Surger. With Guinness Surger, a bartender pours a pint from the bottle [i.e. it's not draft] and places the glass on a special plate, where it is zapped with ultrasound waves that generate the characteristic head.

The horror, the horror.

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