Photo: Nathan Lewis
We all know the rhyme, ‘Whisky makes you frisky, brandy makes you randy and gin makes you sit on the stairs crying’ (you might know another version that scans). And we all know what people mean when they mention ‘wife beater beer’ and it seems Stella Artois and international lobbying company Portland Communications is trying to change this.
Just as no one knows what exactly is in whisky, brandy or gin that provokes such reactions, the vague bar-based utterance regarding Stella Artois’s epithet, ‘oh, there’s some chemical in it that makes you violent’ is not totally founded on science. I think we’re all agreed the ‘some chemical’ in it that potentially causes violence is alcohol.
Just as no one knows what exactly is in whisky, brandy or gin that provokes such reactions, the vague bar-based utterance regarding Stella Artois’s epithet, ‘oh, there’s some chemical in it that makes you violent’ is not totally founded on science. I think we’re all agreed the ‘some chemical’ in it that potentially causes violence is alcohol.
Unhappy with this reputation it appears Anheuser-Busch InBev, the brewing company owners of Stella Artois engaged former Blair advisor Tim Allan’s company Portland Communications in a bid to overhaul their image.
Labour MP turned super-sleuth Tom Watson noticed this and it got his spider senses a-tingling. You can read why on his blog, here
Watson noticed that a Wikipedia user, Portlander10, had taken out the wife beater reference on the Stella Artois Wikipedia page. Wikipedia user Portlander10 had also, in a very thorough move, removed a reference to the lager on the Wikipedia page Wife Beater. These changes had been noticed by other users and reversed.
Since Watson brought attention to such Wikipedia fiddling Portland Communications have not denied making changes. Through a spokesman they company said the changes had been within Wikipedia’s rules.
Labour MP turned super-sleuth Tom Watson noticed this and it got his spider senses a-tingling. You can read why on his blog, here
Watson noticed that a Wikipedia user, Portlander10, had taken out the wife beater reference on the Stella Artois Wikipedia page. Wikipedia user Portlander10 had also, in a very thorough move, removed a reference to the lager on the Wikipedia page Wife Beater. These changes had been noticed by other users and reversed.
Since Watson brought attention to such Wikipedia fiddling Portland Communications have not denied making changes. Through a spokesman they company said the changes had been within Wikipedia’s rules.
The Stella Artois lager image remains intact even after a barrage of classy film style adverts. In spite of as the advert campaign featuring people staking their country’s claim on Stella Artois (because it is so DELICIOUS) Belgium is pretty quiet about the lager. Even in Leuven they don’t shout about Stella Artois from the roof tops. And why would they? They’ve got Delirium Tremens coming out of their ears.
Kate
Kate
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