Budweiser acknowledges failure of brand, changes name to 'America'

It was supposed to be a summer fling, but like Donald Trump's White House aspirations, it's going all the way to November.

According to AdAge, which has confirmed with company officials, 12 ounce cans and bottles of Budweiser—owned by a company based in Belgium—will now bear the brand name “America.” You can look for the change as of May 23, and expect it to last straight through summer, a.k.a. “the high beer season.” But it won’t end there! The new look will stretch onward through the election season, because why not make your rebranding as ridiculous as our presidential campaign has been.

The new tagline? “America is in your hands.”

Still not ready to drop your side-chickin' with that local craft brew, traitor?

The Washington Post notes the rebranding will be even more extensive, with Budweiser changing multiple facets of its can design for maximum patriotism:

[T]he word-heavy label would include, in all capital letters, the following: “Land of the Free,” “Home of the Brave” and “From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters this land was made for you and me.” Don’t worry—there’s more. It’s topped with a diamond containing “U.S.” and a smaller “United States of America” and that is topped with the lyrics from the first four bars of the “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

"You have this wave of patriotism that is going to go up and down throughout the summertime," Anheuser-Busch InBev U.S. Marketing Vice President Jorn Socquet told AdAge. "And we found with Budweiser such a beautiful angle to play on that sentiment."

Expect some "why do you hate America" challenges from those whose patriotism can't be expressed strongly enough on the bumpers of their pickup trucks, or in a tattoo across their lower back.

I clicked on all the links but didn't find any mention of "In God We Trust", so I'm guessing there's going to be some protests and boycotts from the Religious Right's Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers Caucus.

As for me, my boycott of all things Budweiser continues unabated and unbowed.