A Montana-based craft brewer is suing the world’s largest beer-maker, alleging that popular YouTube videos for Bud Light violate its trademarked phrase, “Hold my beer and watch this.”

 

Big Sky Brewing Co. filed its lawsuit against Anheuser-Busch in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Mont. The company says it has used the slogan since at least 2004, and has a trademark.

 

At issue are three videos on Bud Light’s official YouTube site created by actor John Krasinski, best known for playing Jim Halpert on NBC’s The Office, and his business partner, Danny Stessen. The videos depict odd things that might happen after asking someone to hold your beer. In one, a woman celebrating her 100th birthday feigns death after asking a young man to hold her beer, then after the man and his friends leave, she high-fives and laughs with another elderly woman.

 

The videos debuted about a month ago and, as of Tuesday, had nearly 5 million views. The videos are online only and do not air on television.

 

Big Sky’s lawsuit includes photos of cans of one of its brews, the back reading “Hold my beer and watch this.” The suit, filed Dec. 20, seeks unspecified damages.

 

Neal Leathers, president of Big Sky and one of the founders, said the Missoula-based company is “engaged in negotiations with Anheuser-Busch to try and get this resolved. Until something’s actually been resolved, we’re just sort of taking the no-comment route.”

 

An Anheuser-Busch official, in an emailed statement on Tuesday, stood behind the videos.

 

“These humorous Bud Light videos explore the unexpected things that could happen when you ask someone to hold your beer,” said Rob McCarthy, vice president of Bud Light marketing. “There is no trademark use of the phrase ‘Hold my beer and watch this,’ nor is there intent to create any association with Big Sky. Countless other videos and jokes use the same or similar words as a punch line or hashtag.”

 

InBev, of Belgium, purchased Anheuser-Busch in 2008, but the company retained St. Louis as U.S. headquarters. The company makes several top-selling beers, including Bud Light and Budweiser. Anheuser-Busch InBev commands 47.6 percent of the U.S. beer market.

 

Big Sky offers several craft beers with such names as “Moose Drool,” ”Trout Slayer” and “Slow Elk.” The company website says it is the nation’s 50th largest brewer with sales of around 45,000 barrels of beer in 2012. Big Sky brews are sold in 24 states.

Source: http://money.msn.com/

As craft beer consumption continues to rise, the fall of big beer comes closer at hand.

While craft beer may seem to be all the rage these days, the number of people cracking open a cold one has actually been on the decline.

 

According to Beer Marketer’s Insights, beer sales have slipped 2.3 percent between 2007 to 2012.

 

Michelob Light has been a big loser, plunging 70 percent, while the once top-selling Budweiser, declined by more than 25 percent over the past five years. Miller Genuine Draft, Old Milwaukee and Heineken Premium Light are also losing market share.

 

Part of the decline is attributed to people switching to wine and spirits — especially the flavored brands.  “The [beer] brewers have dabbled in that, and have had some success with, for example, Redd’s Apple Ale, but nowhere near the success that flavored vodkas and flavored whiskeys have had,” Eric Shepard, executive editor at Beer Marketer’s Insights.

 

The website 24/7 Wall St. looked at the research from Beer Marketer’s Insights and identified nine beers Americans no longer drink.  Here they are:

 

9. Labatt Blue- Sales loss (2007-2012): 28.3 percent
8. Budweiser-Sales loss (2007-2012): 28.8 percent
7. Heineken Premium Light- Sales loss (2007-2012): 36.7 percent
6. Milwaukee’s Best Light- Sales loss (2007-2012): 39.7 percent
5. Old Milwaukee- Sales loss (2007-2012): 54.0 percent
4. Miller Genuine Draft- Sales loss (2007-2012): 56.4 percent
3. Milwaukee’s Best Premium- Sales loss (2007-2012): 58.5 percent
2. Budweiser Select- Sales loss (2007-2012): 61.5 percent
1. Michelob Light- Sales loss (2007-2012): 69.6 percent

 

According Shepard, the trend doesn’t appear to be changing. “The history of beer brands in the U.S. has generally been — and there are exceptions — once they start to decline, it’s very, very difficult to reverse it.”

 

Guess it’s time to start stockpiling your favorite beer before it disappears all together.

Source:  http://www.foxnews.com/