Billy Beer

Older readers--and I suppose so far we don't have older readers!--might remember the flop "Billy Beer" which was introduced in the late '70s by the Falls City Brewing Company and endorsed by then-President Jimmy Carter's no goodnik brother, Billy Carter. Billy was an alcoholic, and was rather popular in the late-'70s (keep in mind, this era was culturally a wasteland, probably caused by that "malaise" that Jimmy Carter was fretting about--it was a horrible time to be alive, and I'm just glad I was a toddler then!). His popularity was due to his humorous homespun sayings and "aw shucks" persona, so the beermaker figured his endorsement would be a great promotion for a new beer.

The whole thing turned into a disaster for a few reasons. First, the beer itself was low quality even by the standards of the time where Coors was considered top notch in the American market. The brewing company cut costs by using lesser ingredients and shorter brewing times, leading to a type of swill that even the least discriminating beer drinkers didn't like. Also, they paid Billy Carter very little to promote the beer, so he of course did a lousy job, skipping appearances and at several points admitting that he himself didn't like the beer much! The fad wore off quickly, sales plummeted, and Billy Beer went bust. Apparently, a gimmick will get you publicity, but you have to have some sort of staying power.

Postscript--in a great Simpsons episode, Homer was cleaning out his attic and found a long forgotten can of Billy Beer. After taking a sip, he proudly exclaims "we elected the wrong Carter!"