It's beermorial day!
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This is the sight that greeted me when I entered Publix today.
By a show of hands, how many of you find this tacky and offensive?
It's a soldier on top of a pile of Budweiser.
I saw it and my jaw dropped.
This is totally the norm with Publix though.
On the fourth of July, they make an American Flag out cases of Bud.
But this?
This just says to me, "Drink up! They are fighting and dying for your right to get shitfaced today!"
This kind of tacky advertising kills me.
I know it's the work of Budweiser doing these displays, but Publix prides itself on being a family friendly store, they have a rack of religious books in the deli, they have very strict rules for their employees appearances, employees are written up if they get caught using any bad language.
So to see these kinds of displays, pisses me off.
Memorial Day commemorates U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country.
It is not a day to use their image in a beer display.
I know many people take the long Memorial Day weekend, and spend it partying, barbecuing, and drinking, but it is not a day to use the image of our soldiers to promote getting shitfaced in my opinion.
As I was leaving, I told the manager at the service desk how tacky and offensive I find the newest Bud display.
She said Budweiser is responsible for the displays.
I said, "I know that, but this is your store, don't you have any say in what goes on the displays at all?
Our men and women in the service, should not be used to help sell more brewskies. It's not right."
She said she would pass it on to her regional manager and upper bosses.
I bet she won't. I bet anything that display will stand until after Memorial day.
Comments
Budweiser is some nasty-assed swill anyway, and you could not pay me to drink it. But still, I agree that this display is offensive, and would make me buy some other kind of beer, even if I did like Bud.
Here in Massachusetts, most supermarkets do not sell beer...the only one I know of that does is the skeevy Stop & Schlop. I haven't been in there in a while, but I bet they have this disgusting display, as well.
Gack.
Posted by: Christine | May 15, 2007 8:15 PM
Other than being bad beer (which we Canadians would drink only under pressure, or in jail) that display is in extremely poor taste, and although you are not speaking to me, I would urge you to go higher up than the Publix store manager (who has no power) and file an official complaint.
Sometimes I wish I was a Murrican so I could complain about Murrican things.
Posted by: terry | May 15, 2007 9:30 PM
Bureaucracy/red tape sucks, even at low levels like retail. She could pass it on to her superiors, but it probably wouldn't do a bit of good. They need comment cards, like our store has. I don't know how seriously corporations take things like customer comment cards, but having them available would at least let the customer feel like someone will consider their opinion. I know our store uses those things to help us with training materials and to better 'guest' experiences. But we don't do tacky displays like that.
Posted by: DSB | May 16, 2007 2:12 AM
Don't bother complaining in the store - you need to call the District Manager for your area, or his boss, and let your thoughts be known to those guys.
Posted by: Colleen | May 16, 2007 11:40 AM
Beyond tacky. My stepson is getting ready to go over to Iraq and it really bothers me to see shit like that. Anheuser-Busch apparantly has no respect for our Armed Forces.
Posted by: Brandi | May 16, 2007 12:48 PM