Pabst Blue Ribbon Bought By Russian Beverage Company
Lovers of Pabst Blue Ribbon, a beer decorated in the patriotic colors red, white and blue, may soon find Pabst cans only covered red... communist red, that is.
Pabst Brewing Company has been bought by Oasis Beverages, a Russian beer and soft drink company. (Also, I was just kidding about the communist stuff. I doubt the design of the cans will change and understand that Russia is no longer the U.S.S.R.)
The lame jokes from Logan Square to Brooklyn will all be the same: Take that, hipsters!
Sadly, lovers of cheap beer with a questionable taste can't even switch to Old Style -- Old Style is one of many beer brands Pabst owned.
Same with Schlitz, Colt 45, Texas' Lone Star and a number of other beer brands. According to a press release published by Business Weekly, Pabst Brewing Company's entire portfolio of beer brands was part of the deal.
"Pabst Blue Ribbon is the quintessential American brand – it represents individualism, egalitarianism, and freedom of expression – all the things that make this country great," Chairman of Oasis Beverages Eugene Kashper stated in the press release. "The opportunity to work with the company's treasure trove of iconic brands, some of which I started my career selling, is a dream come true. It will be an honor to work with Pabst's dedicated employees and partner distributors as we continue to build the business."
Kashper, a graduate of Columbia University, will act as CEO for Pabst Brewing Company. Headquarters will remain in Los Angeles, California and, for the most part, it seems like the company will see few changes in the immediate future.
Wouldn't it be awesome if they retroactively edited Russian villains in bad '80s action films to be drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon?
Russian jokes aside, some Pabst fans might like this deal simply because it keeps the 170-year-old company out of the hands of beer brewing giants Anheuser-Busch InBev (who own Goose Island) and Miller.
Ultimately, it seems doubtful the majority of Pabst Blue Ribbon fan's will care about this deal (or even find out it happened in the first place).
Mason Johnson is a Web Content Producer for CBS Chicago. You can find him on Twitter.