0.5 litre of Bud and a packet of lawyers, please

Saturday's Wall Street Journal (subs. req'd) reports on the delicate dance that Anheuser-Busch is doing at this summer's World Cup in Germany, marketing a beer to the world from an event where the locals hold it in very low esteem. There are a couple of indications in the story that Anheuser-Busch executives in St Louis were misled by the beer's popularity in Ireland into assuming that it was a viable proposition in Germany; the company has owned the exclusive beer marketing rights for World Cups since 1998:

While only 6.4% of Anheuser's revenue is generated outside the U.S., it's a highly profitable business, generating 22.7% of net income in 2005. Budweiser isn't as popular overseas as it is in the U.S., but Anheuser has about 14% of the market in Ireland and is trying to increase sales in Europe, Latin America and Asia.

But as many beer drinkers know, Germany poses multiple problems for Bud:

In 1895 a group of Czech brewers in the town of Ceske Budejovice (Budweis in German) launched a beer called Budweiser too. The Czech company says it was upholding the tradition of beer brewed in the town since the 13th century. The two companies have been fighting over use of the name almost ever since.

Even the name Bud is out because one of Germany's most popular beers, Bitburger, is called Bit and German courts have ruled that "Bud" is too close to "Bit." As a result, the American company is forced to sell its beer in Germany under the awkward name Anheuser Busch Bud.

And as if that wasn't enough, Germans just don't like Bud, the final insult to the insipid flavour being that it doesn't meet the country's beer purity expectations, as it contains added rice. Anyway the execs quickly saw the PR fiasco that would result from trying to make the locals attending matches buy a beer that they don't like, so they've cut a deal with Bitburger to sell it along side Bud in the stadiums:

Under the agreement, the name Anheuser-Busch -- not Budweiser -- will appear on key chains and hats given away at events. The company has printed a bar guide to direct people to bars that sell its beer. At the stadiums, drinkers who buy the beer will receive commemorative plastic cups with the World Cup logo next to the words: Anheuser-Busch. Bitburger will be sold in unbranded plastic cups.

One approving fan is quoted "The one drink connected to football is beer," although Gordon Brown's budget seem to think that it was Champagne.