Sam Adams Beer Commercial 4th of July : Omission of God Response

[John Titor]

I sent an email about the omission to God in the Commercial .
He is what they had to say .

July 11, 2013

​

Dear XXXXXX,

​

Thank you for your message about our recent TV ad and our use of some words from the Declaration of Independence, without the phrase “by our Creator.” We apologize that the omission offended you. That was never our intent. As you may already know, we adhere to an advertising code, established by the Beer Institute – a beer industry trade organization. The code states, "Beer advertising and marketing materials should not include religion or religious themes." We agree with that, and follow those guidelines in our advertising and responsibly marketing our products.

We understand your objection to the omission of the phrase "by our Creator" in other circumstances (after all, these words occur in the Declaration of Independence which our namesake, Samuel Adams, signed), and, in this case, we believe it would be outside our industry guidelines and inappropriate to invoke the deity in a beer commercial. We also want to let you know that this commercial was developed to run exclusively around Independence Day, and is no longer on the air. We appreciate your getting in touch with us to express your concerns and sensitizing us to your point of view. Thank you for giving us a chance to respond.

We really do rely on consumers to be the judges of our work and we appreciate your taking the time to reach out.

Sincerely,

Michelle Sullivan
Senior Director of External Relations
Boston Beer Company

Beer advertising and marketing materials should not include religion or religious themes."


Well if that's what the standard says they who are the consumers to argue ?

[video=youtube;RJiDT2-PDlI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJiDT2-PDlI[/video]​

 

[Rookie]

IBTL

 

[LEaSH]

ibtlol

 

[hornadylnl]

Had they used it, some would be offended that "our creator" was blasphemied to sell a sinful product.

Things like this are a reason why it's better for businesses to remain apolitical, non religious, non patriotic, etc. Because no matter what they do, somebody's panties are guaranteed to be in a twist.

I won't fly a flag anymore. No matter what lengths I go to to display it correctly, sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, some uber patriot will be along to tell me I'm doing it wrong.

 

[giovani]

First they take the diety out of schools and now beer commercials, what's next I ask, what has this world come to?

 

[lucky4034]

^ Its senses

 

[mrjarrell]

Sooooo....you wanted them to use your deity to sell their beer? Am I reading this right? That seems more than a bit blasphemous and would likely have had every evangelical denomination in the country up in arms. They did the right thing. Always best to adhere to a separation of beer, business and religion.

 

[Bummer]

Curtis isn't going to buy any more Sam Adams beer over a company following its industry guidelines?

I think Curtis may have had a bit too much already.

 

[IndyDave1776]

My thought is that if they don't want to quote an historic document correctly, then don't quote it at all. I see this not as a religious issue, but an issue of historic truthfulness which often gets marginalized under the heading of a religious discussion when, in my reckoning, it is no different than selectively ignoring parts of the Constitution a given person, legislator, or judge doesn't particularly like.

 

[Shadow8088]

My thought is that if they don't want to quote an historic document correctly, then don't quote it at all.

That's the beauty of quotation.. as long as you give credit for what you DO use, no harm, no foul.... also.. IBTL

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

From the Beer Institute:

http://www.beerinstitute.org/assets/uploads/BI-AdCode-5-2011.pdf

Beer advertising and marketing materials should not employ religion or religious themes.

I'm thinking this was more likely to be meant as guidance to refrain from showing a religious figure, Buddha maybe, with a beer in his hand or Moses kicking back after leading the Jews our of Egypt with an ice cold Coors more than the mear utterance in a historic document.

 

[Liberty1911]

Had they used it, some would be offended that "our creator" was blasphemied to sell a sinful product.

Things like this are a reason why it's better for businesses to remain apolitical, non religious, non patriotic, etc. Because no matter what they do, somebody's panties are guaranteed to be in a twist.

I won't fly a flag anymore. No matter what lengths I go to to display it correctly, sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, some uber patriot will be along to tell me I'm doing it wrong.

How many times did an "uber patriot" tell you that you were doing it wrong before you decided to quit?

 

[Blackhawk2001]

Had they used it, some would be offended that "our creator" was blasphemied to sell a sinful product. Things like this are a reason why it's better for businesses to remain apolitical, non religious, non patriotic, etc. Because no matter what they do, somebody's panties are guaranteed to be in a twist. I won't fly a flag anymore. No matter what lengths I go to to display it correctly, sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, some uber patriot will be along to tell me I'm doing it wrong.

Since when do you give a crap about what someone else says to you? And if you REALLY wanted to know how to fly the flag correctly, I'm sure you could get the information from Wikipedia or just Google it. What a bunch of B.S.

 

[BogWalker]

From the Beer Institute:

http://www.beerinstitute.org/assets/uploads/BI-AdCode-5-2011.pdf



I'm thinking this was more likely to be meant as guidance to refrain from showing a religious figure, Buddha maybe, with a beer in his hand or Moses kicking back after leading the Jews our of Egypt with an ice cold Coors more than the mear utterance in a historic document.

I think you're right, but I'd say they went with "better safe than sorry" as that guideline seems fairly vague. What's the penalty for breaking one of the guidelines?

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I think you're right, but I'd say they went with "better safe than sorry" as that guideline seems fairly vague. What's the penalty for breaking one of the guidelines?

Isn't interesting that the "safe" course in today's America, is to avoid religious references at all costs -- even when they are part of our history?

 

[IndyDave1776]

Isn't interesting that the "safe" course in today's America, is to avoid religious references at all costs -- even when they are part of our history?

Oh come on, don't you know that the US was founded to be an atheistic paradise and religion was never a part of our history?

 

[Mark 1911]

My thought is that if they don't want to quote an historic document correctly, then don't quote it at all. I see this not as a religious issue, but an issue of historic truthfulness which often gets marginalized under the heading of a religious discussion when, in my reckoning, it is no different than selectively ignoring parts of the Constitution a given person, legislator, or judge doesn't particularly like.

Beat me to it. Manipulating / re-writing the Declaration of Independence for financial gain is not nice IMHO.

I don't buy Sam Adams very often anyway, but I will be more consistent in the future.

 

[Mark 1911]

Isn't interesting that the "safe" course in today's America, is to avoid religious references at all costs -- even when they are part of our history?

Seems like an odd way to sell a beer call Samuel Adams, doesn't it? Especially since Adams was one of the authors / signers of the document. Seems like "self-contradiction" on the brewer's part.

 

[SmileDocHill]

sounds like they have the same rule as ingo. the ad, as oposed to this thread, seemed to abide to the respective rules. :-)