Budweiser Watered-Down? That’s just Un-American! (if true)

February 27th, 2013. By AbiK

Budweiser is taking some heat in the form of a class action lawsuit alleging that the most American of American beer brewers adds water to its beer thereby reducing the alcohol content by three to eight percent compared to what’s indicated on its beer label (and yes, I know Bud merged with Belgian In-Bev, but it will always be the iconic American beer).

If the allegations are true, it puts into question everything the red, white and blue stands for: honesty, hard work, integrity, and a nice cold brew as reward for it all. Hell, those Clydesdales have continued to unite us all in red-blooded pride each holiday season—what with their showing up every winter on our t.v. screens, tugging at our heartstrings better than the best Hallmark card could.

Gosh darnit where’s that House Committee on Un-American Activities when you need them?

Now what’s interesting with the Budweiser class action lawsuit here is that the folks who filed the lawsuit are not the ones you’d expect. C’mon—when you hear someone’s suing a beer company because they’re thinking there ain’t the right amount of alcohol in their beer, you’re thinking of some beer-loving redneck, right? Wrong.

The folks that filed the Budweiser class action are Budweiser employees. And, according to a report from MSN, some are “in high-level plant positions”. They ought to know.

The MSN article quotes lead attorney Josh Boxer as stating, “Our information comes from former employees at Anheuser-Busch, who have informed us that as a matter of corporate practice, all of their products mentioned (in the lawsuit) are watered down. It’s a simple cost-saving measure, and it’s very significant.”

According to the lawsuit, the deceptive practice and false advertising began after the 2008 merger between Anheuser-Busch and In-Bev. The lawsuit states, “Following the merger, AB vigorously accelerated the deceptive practices described below, sacrificing the quality products once produced by Anheuser-Busch in order to reduce costs.”

The lawsuit, filed in California, Pennsylvania and additional states including one due this week in New Jersey, involve ten Anheuser-Busch beers: Budweiser, Bud Ice, Bud Light Platinum, Michelob, Michelob Ultra, Hurricane High Gravity Lager, King Cobra, Busch Ice, Natural Ice and Bud Light Lime. Each lawsuit is seeking at least $5 million in damages.

We’ll keep an eye on this one as not only is it nation-wide, but it also involves “insider info” (always making for good story line) and the most iconic American beer for heaven’s sake!

Tags: Anheuser Busch, Beer Lawsuit, Budweiser Beer, Budweiser Class Action, Consumer Fraud, false advertising, In Bev, Michelob, Watered Down Beer

This was posted on Wednesday, February 27th, 2013 at 6:27 pm and is filed under Class Action, Consumer Fraud, Emerging Issues . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.