When my 20 something boys come over, they always bring beers to sample and taste. They NEVER bring a Bud. I never drank Bud, but Bud has become Grandpa's beer.
Pabst Blue Ribbon has been revived as a hip PBR - because it is so cheap. I don't know how Bud survives or rebrands itself.
I get a chuckle out of the redneck beer PBR becoming the hipster beer. Is Old Mill next?
The Budweiser brand is wildly popular overseas. The “beauty” of Budweiser is that it tastes the same wherever you buy it around the world, as AB/InBev imports the water for brewing so the taste is consistent. This was AB’s claim to fame when I took their brewing school at Busch Gardens years ago.
I think their biggest problem is that they’re trying too hard. You see how many products on which Budweiser slaps their name? Bud, Bud Light, Michelob, Michelob Light, Ultra, Shock Top, Bass, Boddingtons, Goose Island, Rolling Rock, Stella, Busch, Kirin... these are all Budweiser-owned brands. They try to soak up markets by inject themselves into them, but they only serve to dilute the purity of certain beers types (i.e. lagers, ales, porters, stouts, etc.) and piss off the hipsters.
I’ll take a Bud Light after a long day working outside, because I know the taste I’m going to get is the same. A lot of the micros and specialty brews I’ve had are inconsistent on the palate.