This Bud's not for you

I don't like the Belgian-Brazilian brewery know as Inbev. After having offered $46 billion for America's heart and soul, Anheuser-Busch, and getting a straight up "hell no," they are trying a hostile takeover of an American icon. Here is an excerpt from the article I read the other day about it:

"InBev, the world’s largest brewer, said on Thursday it would launch a hostile bid for Anheuser-Busch as its US rival rejected its $46bn bid as “financially inadequate”.

In court documents filed in the Court of Chancery in Delaware, InBev said it was preparing to launch a proxy battle seeking the removal of Anheuser’s entire board, citing “delays and apparent plans to attempt to block the acquisition”.

Shortly after the filing, Anheuser formally rejected InBev’s offer. August Busch IV, Anheuser’s chief executive, suggested in a letter to Carlos Brito, InBev’s chief executive, that the Belgian-Brazilian group was seeking to take advantage of the low level of the dollar and subdued US stock markets with an offer that undervalued Anheuser’s earnings potential."

That's not all. Read this:

"InBev’s court filing said that it had been told by Mr Busch before launching the bid that he was opposed to any offer, and that Anheuser was “not for sale”. Mr Busch, according to InBev, also said he and his board were committed to the company’s independence."

I say, "Here, here, Mr Busch, this bud's for you." Let's keep Anheuser-Busch's 50% of the beer market share in control of
America, not some Belgian-Brazilian interlopers who are only taking advantage of a soft market and a weak dollar.


The funny part is, I don't drink beer. I don't drink - period. However, I would hate to see such an American icon get sold off to another Multinational Corporation without a soul. Remember the Budweiser Clydesdales? Remember all the commercials about Budweiser being the King of Beers, and American made? Well, guess what, giving the stockholders 10 bucks more a share isn't worth selling out on America and it's favorite beer. Don't worry shareholders, Anheuser-Busch has a plan to slim down and become very profitable in the next couple years. Give them a chance. Inbev is trying a hostile takeover against August Busch IV and his entire board. They don't care about American jobs, they just want a huge stake in the American beer market at a low price. Don't give in. We need at least 76% of you to hold firm.

Here's the full article.

I love Big Tobacco

Something that I will never understand is how the government decides to punish one industry to such a degree and then turns a blind eye to one that can be just as bad. The issue I speak of is the massive settlement that big tobacco had to pay to the states and the people that it "tricked," and the fact the big alcohol hasn't paid a dime in that kind of a class-action suit.

First off, if you smoke, and you got cancer, you did it to yourself. There have been surgeon general's warnings on cigarettes since the 60s. It's like blaming Little Debbie for being overweight. You have to take some responsibility. But, given the precedent that occurred, with Phillip Morris doling out hundreds of billions to smokers and states to fund ads against themselves and create anti-smoking clubs and clinics, it seems only fitting that we should also scrutinize alcohol (and any other industry that may be harmful to your health).

Alcoholism is a prevalent and destructive disease that destroys families and individual lives, yet, alcohol companies only have to put the words "drink responsibly" at the end of their commercial instead of "may cause fetal alcohol sydrome, dependency, alcoholism or severe complications for those who take heart medicine." And why is that? Because the alcohol lobby has been lining the pockets of congress for years. The Busch family has many good friends in Washington, and most likely has better litigators, so Budweiser gets the stamp of approval just like Coors, Mike's Hard Lemonade, or any other brand. It's not fair. People need to know the truth. Just as there are truth ads about tobacco, there need to be truth ads about alcohol. We want a more educated populace right? Then let's stop allowing them to be mislead by big alcohol. They do a great job with commercials. I openly admit that beer and rum commercials are some of the best on TV. But, it's very misleading. Captain Morgan isn't going to turn you into Jack Sparrow, or the Captain, or any other pirate super hero. The Coors Light vent is only going to allow you to drink more and faster and when you think of budweiser they want you to think hops and clydesdales, not red necks in wife beaters. But you know better.


And this isn't just about alcohol either, you can poke yourself in the eye with a pen. Let's sue BIC! You can get fat off of twinkies. Let's sue hostess! You can hurt yourself wearing some lingerie. Let's sue Victoria's Secret! You can get shocked putting a fork in a toaster. Let's sue GE! You can get into a car accident. Let's sue all the car companies! I think you get my point. We live in a sue-happy society. Frivolous lawsuits started with the lady and her hot coffee spilling on her from McDonalds. So what? Deal with it. You bought the coffee, read the label that the contents were hot and spilled it on yourself. But of course it was McDonald's fault. But, seeing as we can't take back the lawsuit against big tobacco or McDonalds, we might as well just balance it by suing everyone else to make it fair. Makes perfect sense. The hops did it.