Lemon Your Widmer

[Jackal]

I posted here several months back when the ad agency I work for was pitching the Widmer account. Our hard work is finally paying off, as our new campaign for them is starting on Monday. If you live in Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, San Diego, Orange County, or Eugene, OR you may have already seen some of our print ads and will start seeing tv and radio starting next week!

Anyway, we also launched a viral video site - check it out and let me know what you think. It's pretty amusing!


LemonYourWidmer.com (http://www.lemonyourwidmer.com)

Prost!

Jackal

[steveh]

No offense but, yuck. No fruit in my beer please.

Interesting that Widmer advertises their brew in a traditional Bavarian Hefeweizen glass, maybe that's why I was expecting that traditional Bavarian Hefeweizen flavor when I first tried Widmer.

S.

[hooky]

I agree Steve. I never saw a lemon (or Orange) in a biergarten.

[steveh]

Originally posted by hooky
I never saw a lemon (or Orange) in a biergarten.

According to my German friends in the south, the lemon is only used on the Kristalweizen. But yeah, I drank a lot of Hefeweizen on my trips to Germany and was never given or offered a lemon slice.

That said, my point toward the Widmer is that it tastes nothing like a Bavarian Hefeweizen anyway, so maybe the lemon is used to spice it up.

S.

[brewpubzone]

They seem like fun videos to me, targeted at a younger generation (i.e. 21-30) who many are not going to take exception to putting a lemon in their beer. The site advertises it as an American style Hefeweizen and the lemon is used to ehance the beer's citrus notes...

[chazwicke]

Hi Jackal, Congrats on landing the account. I know that you know that many of us are not fond of the Widmer though. I don't care if it is served with a lemon or not as I most likely won't be drinking what I consider to be a mediocre brew. But I am also not in one of your targeted cities. At any rate congrats on landing that account.

[steveh]

Originally posted by brewpubzone
The site advertises it as an American style Hefeweizen and the lemon is used to ehance the beer's citrus notes...

Ever had a Widmer yourself? I have, it was pretty bland with little to none of those citrus notes they speak of -- unless a lemon is squeezed of its juice into the glass.

S.

[brewpubzone]

Ever had a Widmer yourself?

I have not... I will see if I can get my hands on one. There are just a couple of distributors listed in PA on their website.

[Mill Rat]

Originally posted by chazwicke
Hi Jackal, Congrats on landing the account. I know that you know that many of us are not fond of the Widmer though. I don't care if it is served with a lemon or not as I most likely won't be drinking what I consider to be a mediocre brew. But I am also not in one of your targeted cities. At any rate congrats on landing that account.
Well, I've done work for Miller and A-B. There's nothing wrong, in my book, with taking their money in exchange for quality work, even if I'll take my earnings and buy craft beer or brewing ingredients. If I find myself stuck having to choose between Widmer and BMC, I'll pick the Widmer as the lesser of the evils.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by Mill Rat
If I find myself stuck having to choose between Widmer and BMC, I'll pick the Widmer as the lesser of the evils.

I would too. Even though I'm not fond of it, I've been told that fresh at its source it is a decent brew. I've never understood the hype.

[hooky]

I hadn't had it in a few years, then last year at a festival in Chicago I tried it just to see if it was how I remembered it. I agree with Chaz and Mill Rat, it's the lesser of two evils when compared to BMC. It's just a little less tasteless than that stuff.

More power to you, Jackal. A woman still has to eat and pay the mortgage.

[steveh]

Originally posted by hooky
it's the lesser of two evils when compared to BMC.

Let me clarify my thoughts and opinions some; given the choice between B,M,C, or Widmer as the only beer to drink, I'd certainly pick the Widmer. However, it's the whole American (Hefe)Weizen style that I have the gripe with, it's just mediocre at best and gives beer drinkers the wrong impression of what a real Hefeweizen should be.

Many a brew-pub uses the style as a transition beer to wean BMC drinkers from swill.

And I may need to apologize for earlier comments, it may have been Pyramid that was the first American Wheat I sampled, though Widmer was in close proximity.

S.

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by steveh

And I may need to apologize for earlier comments, it may have been Pyramid that was the first American Wheat I sampled, though Widmer was in close proximity.

How DARE you confuse the two! You ought to be ashamed of yourself! ;)

Never had a Widmer; GF likes the Pyramid Apricot wheat and I have to say I agree. Kona is now making a Passionfruit wheat that is really nice (Wailua Wheat), and FC Brewing here in town makes one with Pomegranate. All are very nice brews.

Fruit ain't ALWAYS bad in a beer - but I agree with steveh; if it's there to save an otherwise bland brew, why not just brew a better beer in the first place?

[Jinja]

I think the purpose of this thread was Jackal wanting to share his work on an advertising campaign, not to discuss the relative merits and faults of Widmer beer, its American Wheat beer cousins, and dropping lemons into your drink.

Jackal, I only had a chance to view one of the videos, but the site looks good so congratulations on winning and launching the campaign!

I've visited the Gasthaus in Portland and took the tour of the brewery. It was a really good tour - the guide was bright and engaging, they have a beautiful brewhouse, and the tasting session at the end in a back room of the pub was really good - unlike some brewery tours where you get a half taster glass of one beer, our guide sat us down and gave us a full tasting from the light to dark brews, explaining each in detail.

I came away from the tour with a new respect for Widmer, so cheers to you for all your hard work and getting to work with such a cool company.

As we say so many times in these threads, personal taste and opinion is all that matters, and if dropping a lemon in an American style wheat lets you enjoy your drink more, that's all that matters. Just like some people put sugar in their coffee, or milk in their tea - adjusting something to your taste is NOT a bad thing. It's just a matter of personal preference.

Plus, I think anything that introduces more people to craft brew is a bonus, so I hope your ad campaign entices more people to explore beer beyond the offerings of BMC, even if some of the "purists" here might not respect it.

Jinja Out

[steveh]

Originally posted by Jinja
I think the purpose of this thread was Jackal wanting to share his work on an advertising campaign,

Her.

S.

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by Jinja
I think the purpose of this thread was Jackal wanting to share his work on an advertising campaign, not to discuss the relative merits and faults of Widmer beer, its American Wheat beer cousins, and dropping lemons into your drink.

Jackal, I only had a chance to view one of the videos, but the site looks good so congratulations on winning and launching the campaign!

I've visited the Gasthaus in Portland and took the tour of the brewery. It was a really good tour - the guide was bright and engaging, they have a beautiful brewhouse, and the tasting session at the end in a back room of the pub was really good - unlike some brewery tours where you get a half taster glass of one beer, our guide sat us down and gave us a full tasting from the light to dark brews, explaining each in detail.

I came away from the tour with a new respect for Widmer, so cheers to you for all your hard work and getting to work with such a cool company.

As we say so many times in these threads, personal taste and opinion is all that matters, and if dropping a lemon in an American style wheat lets you enjoy your drink more, that's all that matters. Just like some people put sugar in their coffee, or milk in their tea - adjusting something to your taste is NOT a bad thing. It's just a matter of personal preference.

Plus, I think anything that introduces more people to craft brew is a bonus, so I hope your ad campaign entices more people to explore beer beyond the offerings of BMC, even if some of the "purists" here might not respect it.

Jinja Out Jinja, I think you're spot on. I, for one, feel bad for anything I might have said that made Jackal feel bad in this thread. Yeah, we're opinionated, but Jackal wasn't saying "Here's the beer you all should be drinking"; she was saying "Here's the ad campaign I worked on - isn't it cool?" :)

[Jinja]

Yes, she was. Sorry Jackal, didn't know you were a fellow female :)

Jinja Out

[steveh]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
but Jackal wasn't saying "Here's the beer you all should be drinking"; she was saying "Here's the ad campaign I worked on - isn't it cool?" :)

Is it not selling the beer? Is this not the Virtual Beer thread? Are we not all talking about good beer in this forum? Sorry, guess I'm in the wrong place...

S.

[hooky]

She's made 13 posts and 11 of those have either been gathering info in preperation to pitch Widmer or actually pimping Widmer.

A good friend of mine pitched and won the Mickey's account. Part of the deal is getting the website out there and showing their work. That's all she's doing and more power to her for doing it. Props for doing it tastefully and following the forum rules.

That being said, IMHO the beer isn't better than mediocre and fruit doesn't belong in beer after it's been poured.

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by steveh
Is it not selling the beer? Is this not the Virtual Beer thread? Are we not all talking about good beer in this forum? Sorry, guess I'm in the wrong place...

S. Methinks she already knew what we thought of Widmer... but not the ad campaign. We're still allowed to laugh at Bud Light commercials without stating the prevailing obvious opinion, no? :)

The AD may be selling the beer... but insofar as this thread goes, SHE is not.

[steveh]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
The AD may be selling the beer... but insofar as this thread goes, SHE is not.

The link pointed to the ad site, no? C'mon man - I've worked in advertising and marketing for over 20 years. It may be round about, but if the site sells more Widmer who benefits?

And ditto what Hooky posted, but don't go handing me a sales pitch as something other than. You know?

S.

[fretlessman71]

Then can I hand you a sales pitch as 'a sales pitch that I'm sure will have no effect on your desire to buy this beer, but that I think is pretty clever anyway'? Isn't there a difference between the two?

And I don't see you running out to buy any Widmer after seeing that, and for the record, neither am I. Nor am I worried about the lemon I have in the fridge. Like you said, American wheat beer is largely BOOOOR-ing, and the idea of having to add a lemon to it in order for it to taste good simply undermines the concept in my head of what a good beer should be. Nor am I champing at the bit to pick up a 12-pack of Bud Light anytime soon, but I still like the commercial where they play Rock Scissors Paper for the last bottle. A distinction CAN be made here.

[chazwicke]

I wonder how many trys it took for that guy to hit it in with the golf club.

[steveh]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
A distinction CAN be made here.

And I think that's what everyone's been doing.

Where the heck is Newport with his Kumbaya meter when you need him?

S.

[fretlessman71]

Originally posted by steveh
And I think that's what everyone's been doing.

Oooohhh... a very subtle, but effective, slam. Nicely done. :)

[wortchillergoal]

Well, I say congrats on landing the account. I view it in this manner. Her getting someone to drink Widmer, may lead to another craft beer drinker who thinks the same as we.

Now as far as the posturing in this thread, I am a goalie and carry the biggest stick. I don't put fruit in my beer. I am happy she put her work for us to see. I drink Widmer when using it to start training some of my hockey buddies, not often though as I have got them a alittle more advanced.
\ I still got my stick.

[Jinja]

So I was nicely trying to say in my first post to this thread: Hey, guys, lighten up.

I don't think anyone here has any doubts regarding how certain people feel about beer. There are lots of different forums here where you can post that opinion, and we've all heard it a lot. Yes, we know Steve likes PU. Yes, we know Steve doesn't like American-style wheat beers. We hear about that on many of the forums, such as Tasting Notes, and Battle of the Beers, for example.

But I was just pointing out that is not what this thread was about and was trying to bring it back to the original topic. Which, Steve, I have seen you do numerous times.

I'm with Fret - the description of this forum is "Beer on the Internet - if you must spam, want to promote special interests, etc., please make sure your posts are beer related."

So Jackal posted an advertising campaign she'd been working on and asked us what we thought. About the campaign. That she worked on. For Widmer. Which is beer related. And a special interest.

For someone who is such a stickler for verbage, I'm surprised you didn't move your own post for being off topic.

Jinja Out

[steveh]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
Oooohhh... a very subtle, but effective, slam. Nicely done. :)

No, sorry. Won't take credit 'cause I wasn't trying to slam. Just pointing out that everyone is speaking their minds.

S.

[steveh]

Originally posted by Jinja
and Battle of the Beers, for example.

Battle of the Beers? Wow, that's nostalgic, can't even remember my last post there. :)

Fret has relinquished moderator status.

The bottom line is, we're all just talking about beer here, and beer marketing is a big deal with many of us; "A True Pilsner Beer," "Coldest Tasting," "The King of Beers," on and on. This is one place in the world that sees and cuts through the crap on beer myths and false information.

S.

[newportstorm]

Originally posted by steveh
Where the heck is Newport with his Kumbaya meter when you need him?

S.

Sorry, been very busy lately.

Can't say I like Widmer, nor understand the style. As for an ad campaign, sorry....I waste time on lots of things, but checking out ad copy for beers I've no intention of buying isn't one of them. I'm sure this woman worked very hard and is proud, so....congrats and cheers.

On that note...Kumbaya, everyone. Kumbaya.

[fretlessman71]

Rodney King for president! :D

[steveh]

Originally posted by steveh
This is one place in the world that sees and cuts through the crap on beer myths and false information.

Submitted for your approval...

http://www.realbeer.com/blog/?p=516 Yah.

S.

[fretlessman71]

"Warm Beer Syndrome" is as annoying as the "GHT" affliction.

OTOH, have you seen the hitchhiker commercial where the guy has a 12er of Bud Light and an axe - er, um, I mean a bottle opener? Hilarious! :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIC90Vnc-OI

[Mill Rat]

Visited your L.Y.W. web site, Jackal, and it is well constructed and even mildly amusing. Well done.

[wortchillergoal]

Originally posted by steveh
Submitted for your approval...

http://www.realbeer.com/blog/?p=516 Yah.

S.

Did you leave that remark?


Wish I had been the first.

[steveh]

Originally posted by wortchillergoal
Did you leave that remark?


Wish I had been the first.

The only remark I saw at the blog was Mill Rat's. I was too disgusted to comment.

S.

[Jackal]

I must say that you are an amusing bunch - and I mean that 100% as a compliment. I know you all don't like Widmer Hefe - I knew that long before I posted because of the research I did here months ago. But, since you all were so helpful in my initial research and I received some nice pats on the back from some of you when we landed the account, I wanted to update you (and yes, drive traffic to the website - after all, that's my job!).

Yes, I am 100% transparent. I'm here to hawk my wares and I make no bones about it.

FYI- It took Ben 10 shots with the golf club to chip the lemon into the beer glass.
:D