Sixpack Sez

June 27, 2008 | This Bud's for the EU

PATRIOTISM, THE LAST refuge of scoundrels, is apparently the first line of defense against Belgium-based InBev's $46.4 billion bid for Anheuser-Busch. Somehow, an otherwise run-of-the-mill international corporate-takeover proposal has exploded into an assault on American values.

While A-B considers the offer, politicians like Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) are in full pander mode, suggesting that foreign ownership might somehow diminish our enjoyment of Bud Light.

Media dopes like ABC's Chris Cuomo and CNN's Lou Dobbs are likening it to the takeover of American ports by Arabs, fretting, "Is America for sale?"

The Charlotte Observer prattled, "With foreign ownership of Anheuser-Busch a real possibility, beer drinkers may have to choose between their patriotism and their Budweiser."

Some pundits have suggested that the acquisition is a litmus test for the two presidential candidates. Besides wearing a flag pin, the next occupant of the White House presumably must promise to keep Bud American. (Neither has expressed an opinion, yet.)

And then there's the SaveAB.com Web site that, among other things, blames InBev for genocide in Rwanda. We must protect Budweiser, the site says, because it "represents the spirit of our country, giving millions of Americans the 'pursuit of happiness.' " At last count, the site had collected more than 55,000 signatures on a petition opposing the takeover.

Mom, apple pie and the Clydesdales - it's not just a bunch of sentimental pap, it's yet another example of fear-mongering over dreaded globalization.

The only quarter that hasn't chimed in so far is the boardroom of Anheuser-Busch itself. That's no surprise, for its execs know the dirty, little secret behind this American icon:

Budweiser - its American eagle logo notwithstanding - is already a global brand. A-B operates more breweries on foreign soil than in the United States. It sells almost a third of its volume overseas.

It can't complain that foreign ownership is un-American because it already plays that game.

It owns half of Mexico's biggest brewer, Grupo Modelo.

It owns China's second-largest brewery, Harbin, and holds a 27 percent stake in its largest, Tsingtao.

It just bought out its partner in a half-million-barrel brewery that produces Bud in India.

Foreign ownership is the nature of an industry that involves worldwide distribution of a perishable product. The relationships are as sordid as a West Virginia family reunion.

In Japan, for example, Kirin Brewery Co. makes Budweiser; in California, A-B brews Kirin.

Where A-B doesn't own breweries, it controls distribution rights. It imports Dutch Heineken in Panama. It imports Spanish Estrella Damm in the United Kingdom. It imports Mexican Corona in China.

Anheuser-Busch is already in bed with InBev, importing its brands, including Stella Artois, in America, and brewing Bud at an InBev-owned Labatt's brewery in Canada.

You don't hear much about these relationships, I suspect, because over the years the company has been burnt by bad publicity over its foreign connections.

During World War I, A-B had to contend with anti-German hysteria, which not only hurt sales, it ultimately fueled the passage of the 18th Amendment. During the Cold War, it was accused of aiding Communism because it imported hops from Yugoslavia.

So the company has played the red-white-and-blue card, from the post-Prohibition days when it declared itself "America's social companion" to a post-9/11 tearjerker that had the Clydesdales bowing their heads to the New York skyline.

Business is business, though, and A-B knows that beer flows easily over international boundaries.

Its former president of international operations, Stephen J. Burrows, acknowledged the truth a few years ago in a revealing interview with BrandChannel.com.

Anheuser-Busch, Burrows said, "is strongly opposed to any geographic indication for beer, based on brewery location. Geographic location has no bearing on a beer's quality - beer can be made to the same standards anywhere and does not rely on locations for its character."

So if Budweiser is Budweiser no matter where in the world it's made, does it really matter who actually owns the company?

Outside of some misguided sense of patriotism, not one bit.

Right now, A-B's second-biggest shareholder is Warren Buffett, who doesn't even drink alcohol. As for the famed Busch family that has steered this company for more than 150 years, it reportedly owns just 4 percent of the company's stock.

Yeah, I know, jobs may be at stake. Sadly, that's what happens when a multinational corporation gobbles up the competition.

Just ask the good people of Latrobe, Pa. They can tell you how a global beer giant came to town two years ago, shut down their brewery, put 250 out of work and took away their beloved Rolling Rock.

Anheuser-Busch: What goes around, comes around.

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