My local corner shop stocks a decent range of beers but has no beer knowledge – they’re Muslim Turks who simply stock what sells and operate their business in response to the market. It’s the kind of place you go to on the way to a party, or on your way home when you’re tired and don’t have the energy to do a ‘proper’ shop.
They sell 330ml bottles of Heineken, Peroni, Budweiser (US), Budweiser (Budvar) and Corona for 99p. They sell 330ml bottles of Stella Artois for 89p.
So long Reassuringly Expensive – Stella is now a ‘value brand’.
In the States, we have a term for drinking beer that’s cheaper than Budweiser (US), it’s called living the High Life (in honor of the high quality Miller product).
The High Life is reassuringly cheap and intoxicating.
Stella Artois’ presence on Facebook, where depressingly it has attracted 52,990 acolytes, perhaps is even more telling about the brand’s move downmarket.
The tag line “This page is for all those who love the best beer ever STELLA ARTOIS !!!!” makes me shudder – if only down to the appalling over use of exclamation marks.
I’m also perplexed by the current poster campaign – the slogan “welcome to 1366” and the picture of a burning village doesn’t so much make me want to identify with the beer’s “rich heritage” as cause me concern about whether I’m about to come down with a nasty dose of Black Death.