Tom Long, MillerCoors CEO, asks consumers to judge brewers by the quality of their beers

Discussion in 'Beer News' started by Todd, Dec 22, 2012.

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  1. Todd

    Todd Founder (13,254) Aug 23, 1996 Finland
    Staff Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    In response to Steve Hindy's CNN op-ed "Don't let big brewers win beer wars," which coincided with the "Craft vs. Crafty" op-ed piece by the Brewers Association, MillerCoors CEO Tom Long is asking consumers to judge brewers not by the size of their breweries, but by the quality of their beers.
    More: http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/21/opinion/long-beer-brewers/
     
  2. dauss

    dauss Pooh-Bah (1,730) Aug 9, 2003 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Didn't know making a beer lemonade flavor created a new style of beer.
     
  3. hctap00

    hctap00 Initiate (0) Nov 2, 2012 Maryland

    Several years ago, I attended a seminar of sorts at MillerCoors. I fortunate enough to hear Tom Long speak candidly about his business experiences and answer our questions. This was easily the highlight of the visit. He is a VERY intelligent yet humble man who was eager to share his words of wisdom with wide eyed college students. While I do not drink his products, I have a great deal of respect for him and do not take his words lightly.
     
    cfrances33 likes this.
  4. bumblingbeard

    bumblingbeard Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2012

    I'll continue to judge MillerCoors and ABV by the quality of their beers. Poor quality beers by breweries that charge premium prices...you've been judged. I respect poor quality beer, when it's priced accordingly. Believe me, I love nothing more than relaxing with a local craft brew as much as the occasional drunken night off of cheap swill. The difference is that the cheap swill provides more taste, more quality at half the cost!

    Obviously there is a place for MillerCoors and AB products in the marketplace. But the utmost stranglehold that they place on the so-called "free market" is overwhelming for other producers, and ultimately it's the consumer who loses out. Consider yourself judged.
     
  5. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Tom Lang states:

    “ …we're convinced that the ultimate assessment of our beers will not come from an industry organization, but instead from America's beer drinkers.

    We know that no matter what style of beer it is, we will ultimately be judged by the quality of our beers. We like that, because we are confident that the quality of our beers stacks up well versus that of any brewer of any size, anywhere.”

    So, he has the view: “because we are confident that the quality of our beers stacks up well versus that of any brewer of any size, anywhere.”

    This is a challenging statement to discuss since the word “quality” can have differing definitions. If you define “quality” to mean a consistent product then I suppose Tom Lang can defend this statement. In the context of craft beer I would argue that the word “quality” has a different definition. I am confident that the majority of BeerAdvocates would view the word “quality” in the craft beer context to be a flavorful and tasty beer. While “flavorful and tasty” are indeed subjective, those words would not be applied to the majority of the MillerCoors products via BeerAdvocates.

    One aspect of MillerCoors that I find offensive is their blatant use of marketing in the guise of Keith Villa. This was evident in a recent interview he conducted on Fox Small Business (previously discussed in a thread). This marketing is also evident to me in the production of Batch 19. See my discussion here:http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/macro-cravings.52750/page-3#post-694396


    I for one am getting tired of the marketing of MillerCoors. I do indeed agree that “the ultimate assessment of our beers will not come from an industry organization, but instead from America's beer drinkers.” Well, I am an American beer drinker and I claim “Shenanigans” on MillerCoors!

    Cheers!
     
    FrankLloydMike and Kyrojack like this.
  6. mark14580

    mark14580 Initiate (0) Jan 15, 2011 New York

    Would love to judge all beers by their quality. Sucks that Tom Long and MillerCoors prevents others from getting access to store shelves. So F you Tom Long.
     
  7. gstenzel

    gstenzel Aspirant (244) Aug 4, 2005 Illinois

    great business man...not great brewer...
     
  8. AnotherImperial

    AnotherImperial Initiate (0) Oct 29, 2012 Arizona

    Dear Tom,

    I do judge brewers by the quality of their product. That's why I don't drink your beer. I understand there's a place for what you produce, but that place isn't in my house.
     
    kpanter, CWinchell, jcb7472 and 25 others like this.
  9. dennis3951

    dennis3951 Initiate (0) Mar 6, 2008 New Jersey

    If Tom feels that way why dosen't the label for Blue Moon read Coors Brewing Golden CO.?
     
  10. PsilohsaiBiN

    PsilohsaiBiN Initiate (0) Aug 10, 2010 New York

    Big businesses will always try to justify themselves and quell their competition in the light of a revolution that is taking a chunk out of their bottom line. Nice try. People who are actually passionate about their beer are succeeding.
     
    kwakwhore likes this.
  11. palma

    palma Savant (1,110) Dec 14, 2003 New York

    I loved this... Tom Long writes a warm and fuzzy column he says is in response to Hindy's column but then never addresses or even mentions Hindys main point which is that miller and Inbev are working to create an even bigger duopoly in the beer market which is of course bad for the consumer. Long's column was not a response (which would have been the right thing to do), rather it was a counter column with marketing intentions trying to fool the unkowledgeable consumer into seeing miller as the "nice guy".

    And actually, he almost got me - I was thinking wow what a nice sincere article... and then I realized he didnt even mention anthing about the concern that a bigger miller means less choice for the consumer.
     
  12. Jules11788

    Jules11788 Initiate (0) Feb 15, 2011 California

    Hmmm, well if he wants us to judge him based on the quality of his beers then I think my verdict will be pretty low. It's ironic, really, this statement of his. It's like McDonald's responding to an op-ed piece about craft hamburgers by saying that "The quality of our hamburgers should speak for themselves, not the size of our corporation."
     
  13. Snowrs

    Snowrs Initiate (0) Oct 10, 2009 Indiana

    Now I am not a BMC drinker but their beer is exactly what they want it to be EVERY time, so as far as quality it is among some of the highest quality beer, Which is why they win medals for their beer style, now we may not drink it but saying it's poor quality is flat out wrong.
     
  14. LOCAL

    LOCAL Initiate (0) Oct 29, 2006 New Hampshire

    The thing is that they aim to make a certain style of beer for a specific segment of the beer market. It may not be one many of us here enjoy, but you would have to say that what they make is a consistent product which has given them life time customers. If ANY company can do that, I'd say you're doing something right.
     
  15. mark14580

    mark14580 Initiate (0) Jan 15, 2011 New York

    I could have just "liked" this post but I don't think that would emphasize how spot on this post is.
     
  16. fredmugs

    fredmugs Initiate (0) Aug 11, 2012 Indiana
    Deactivated

    Damn near spit out my Heady.
     
  17. Stinkypuss

    Stinkypuss Initiate (0) Apr 7, 2008 Pennsylvania

    Quality means good beer Tom. You're shite beer is taking up premium shelf space where my local IpAs belong. Until a Pliny clone comes out of miller, you've lost my business.
     
    stitches58 and kwakwhore like this.
  18. steve8robin

    steve8robin Savant (1,236) Nov 7, 2009 Massachusetts
    Trader

    Ok, I can understand this statement yet at the same time, totally resent it. My first reaction was, yes, beer should be judged by its quality without concern to the brewery having concocted it. I've found a lot of great brews by buying blind. However, my second reaction is, well this all depends on the motivation behind the brewer. For instance, if Tom Long and his macro company are spearheading their industry marketing with the intention to be the largest brewery and put smaller brewers out of business, then there's when free thinking people will not buy your beer based on intention regardless of quality. The thing with the macros, is it seems that their intention is, unfortunately, to be the largest fish in the sea instead of living harmoniously with the small micro or nano brewer, and I do not agree with putting smaller, quality brewers out of business. Especially since most of the passion for beer lies with the micros and nanos and most of the business sense (without the same passion) lies with the macros. Unfortunately, business usually rules the market, but I'm more of a passion man myself. I'll always go for the smaller brewer beer first.
     
  19. BnjmnDdd

    BnjmnDdd Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2012 Oklahoma
    Deactivated

    I don't think people like his product for the consistency as much as they like the blander taste. Most who drink their product wouldn't drink something from stone or victory if offered even if it is a "consistent" taste.
     
    Kyrojack and BoneyardBrewer like this.
  20. ShogoKawada

    ShogoKawada Initiate (0) May 31, 2009 Pennsylvania

    Nothing wrong with that. MillerCoors does make some good beers- Coors Golden is awesome.

    Of course, if they want more respect, more branching out is needed.
     
    jRocco2021 likes this.
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