| Automatic refills! A Japanese electronics company has developed drinking glasses that signal when they are almost empty so the bartender will know when to bring a refill. A microchip and coil in the base of each glass interact with a coating on the surface of the vessel to work out how full it is and signals this to a base station. The dishwasher safe glasses were developed by Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories in Cambridge, MA. |
Feature News from Draught Board 15 & beernexus.com
The stealth beer
Pabst Blue Ribbon, once near oblivion, saw sales
rocket up 9.4% last year in supermarkets and an
amazing 134% overall in Chicago alone. Even more
surprising is that it is now the number five ranked beer
in the city of Portland, famed as an oasis of
microbrews.
Even the people at Pabst, which has barely advertised
for more than 20 years, found the sales increase
difficult to explain. The dominant theory is that the
Pabst’s fan base grew not despite the lack of
marketing support, but because of it. Anti-corporate
youth, lead by bike messengers, have adopted Pabst
particularly because it does not market itself.
To play into this Pabst has adopted a very low key,
almost incognito marketing plan so it can maintain its
street credibility with its “lifestyle as dissent” or
“consumption as protest” constituencies.
Pabst Blue Ribbon, once near oblivion, saw sales
rocket up 9.4% last year in supermarkets and an
amazing 134% overall in Chicago alone. Even more
surprising is that it is now the number five ranked beer
in the city of Portland, famed as an oasis of
microbrews.
Even the people at Pabst, which has barely advertised
for more than 20 years, found the sales increase
difficult to explain. The dominant theory is that the
Pabst’s fan base grew not despite the lack of
marketing support, but because of it. Anti-corporate
youth, lead by bike messengers, have adopted Pabst
particularly because it does not market itself.
To play into this Pabst has adopted a very low key,
almost incognito marketing plan so it can maintain its
street credibility with its “lifestyle as dissent” or
“consumption as protest” constituencies.
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