There is one extremely good reason not to be in China right now: Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, which is the cheap, American beer that is perfect for either poor college students or those who like to drink the equivalent of piss in a can, is not only expensive in China, it is being marketed as an exotic and specialty alcoholic beverage to the unsuspecting Chinese.
The “World Famous Spirit” that has just recently reached popularity in the United States as a cooler cheap beer option for hipsters costs approximately 22 times more in China than it costs here in the United States. One bottle of the cleverly-packaged beer retails for no less than $44 per bottle in China. Granted, the bottle looks much sexier than the traditional can that is consumed here and does come with a champagne glass affixed to the bottle, but I don’t think that the beer would be significantly tastier there.
The Pabst Blue Ribbon beer sold in China is known as Pabst Blue Ribbon 1844 and is compared to fine liquor like Scotch Brandy and Bordeaux wine in the Pabst Blue Ribbon advertising campaign; it’s possible that PBR’s effective marketing campaign has convinced the new-beer drinkers in China that PBR 1844 is actually the finest of beers.
Another factor that might help the Pabst Blue Ribbon campaign in China is that China is not known for their fine liquor. Traditionally, much of the liquor and alcoholic beverages consumed and originating from China is from grain alcohol and has a high alcohol content. The liquor isn’t usually mixed with other liquids- from my limited experience with Chinese alcohol, the taste is incredibly strong and matches the high alcohol content. Pabst Blue Ribbon, by contrast, tastes much lighter than the standard Chinese grain alcohol and probably tastes better than Chinese beer, too.
However, none of this means that the new PBR will be a best-seller in China. I, for one, am hopeful that the Chinese will be a little more discerning in their choice of beer because $44 a bottle is a bit more than anyone should have to pay for a PBR, even if it comes with a free champagne glass.
Via SLOG