Marketing neologism du jourQ: Why do they call it Castlemaine XXXX? *
A: Because Queenslanders can't spell beer.
When told by an Englishman, Queenslanders is replaced by the altogether more general Australians.
I was reminded of this recently when I began to see advertisements everywhere for what is apparently just another beer but is also one which might be taken to be misspelled.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Beck's Vier.
Yes, vier.
I can find no definition of that word in any language other than German, where it means four.
Quite why the marketing folks deem it necessary to respell beer I am not quite sure **, but I suspect it has something to do with creating the illusion of something rare and exotic. Stella Artois has been doing something similar for years by reminding us at every opportunity how expensive their product is.
We British lap this stuff up.
It impresses the girls when we demonstrate both the discernment and the financial wherewithal to order some sophisticated imported beverage for ourselves while we are at the bar getting them another Barcardi Breezer.
Kevin: "Yes, Sharon. I'm drinking vier tonight."
Sharon: [Swoons, though it is the cumulative effect of several Barcardi Breezers bearing down on her and not the sudden realisation that she is dating James Bond which is ultimately to blame for her new posture - face down under the table.]
Me? I'm too sophisticated to fall for the sort of PR legerdemain that sells beer just by respelling it. I'm drinking real imported Mexican beer. You know the type. It comes with a wedge of lime stuffed into the top of the bottle.
* pronounced four-ex
** poetic license - I am sure, but it still irritates me
Category: Misc
Technorati: Beer Bier Castlemaine Vier XXXX
1. Tim18/03/2008 11:21:06
Err, is it because it is brewed at 4% abv ? On the same lines as Carling C2 being brewed at 2% abv ?
2. Bart18/03/2008 11:32:56
"any language other than German" - and Dutch.
3. Chris Linfoot18/03/2008 12:30:15
Yes, Tim, I'm quite sure it does have a lot to do with abv (and perhaps even something to do with the four ingredients they go on about), but these are details which I am also quite sure will be completely lost on Kevin - accustomed, as he is, to buying that other fine Beck's product, which differs in its name by only a single letter, bier.
4. Tim18/03/2008 15:23:22
""any language other than German" - and Dutch." - and Afrikaans
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