AB Inbev is a huge bewer headquarted in Leuven Belgium which explains the stupidity of political inference in advertizing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AB_InBev_brands
Regardless, Anheuser-Busch is the largest brewing company in the United States, established over 150 years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anheuser-Busch_InBev Are you going to subject it to a corporate citizenry or religious test?
Speaking of corporate citizenship (I'm using it in a different term), the PE group 3G is behind them, and I have to tell you - the horror stories I heard from folks working there as 3G came in and what they did to those folks,.... 3G is ruthless, and did the same thing to Heinz, and Burger King/Tim Horton's. Treats people horribly, runs them into the ground, etc.
It's all in good fun, Fred. Come on down to the US and visit us sometime. Just make sure you bring your papers. And make sure they're in order!
3G has a horrendous rep for very legit reasons. http://fortune.com/2015/03/25/3g-capital-heinz-kraft-buffett/
Admittedly, I knew nothing about 3G or its involvement. So I had to look it up. I came across two arguably, but not necessarily, differing accounts: http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffet-on-private-equity-2015-3 ...And so in Buffett's view, 3G's approach subverts this popular notion of private equity's intentions with regard to a business: they are not looking to treat a company as a piece of merchandise, but as an attractive business to own, grow, and profit from long-term. And this view plays right into Buffett's long-standing advice to investors: don't think about buying a stock, think about buying a business... And then this: http://fortune.com/2015/03/25/3g-capital-heinz-kraft-buffett/ ...So, what can Kraft employees expect next? First: widespread layoffs, lower budgets, new levels of austerity, and a shift in the corporate culture. And then, for shareholders: profit... But: ...It's all part of what analysts call "the 3G way." That is not necessarily a Brazilian method, per se, according to Lemann. In fact, he told Fortune that the 3G style has been influenced mostly by American businesses: "We’re a copycat, really. That’s what we are. Most of the stuff we’ve learned has been from Jack Welch, Jim Collins, from GE, from Wal-Mart. We’ve sort of put it all together. Most of the people who are at the top of InBev are people who came from our trainee system, which was developed and worked at Ambev. So they’re at the top not because they are Brazilians, but because these are the people who we were training 20 years ago, and they’re the best-trained people available." Regardless, the 3G way has come to stand for: extreme transparency; merit-based pay; austere budgeting ("treat the company's money as your own," AB-InBev employees are constantly told); promoting young talent quickly; and a spirit of competitiveness. "We’re constantly trying to train new people and we’re constantly telling everybody that the newer people should be better than the old people," said Lemann. "And you can only go up in the firm if you have picked people as good as yourself or better to be below you." Interesting stuff. But I still don't know what bearing any of this has on the ad or why, exactly, it has caused such anger among some people here. EDIT: I see that Banjo has posted the second link 2 minutes before me.