- Brendan Whitworth, U.S. CEO of Anheuser-Busch, wants to drop “domestic” from the marketing of his company’s beers and instead label them as “American.” He says the change would accurately reflect the pride of the brand.
The U.S. CEO of beer maker Anheuser-Busch is feeling particularly patriotic and wants to rebrand U.S.-produced beer from “domestic” to “American.”
In a letter titled “The Call for American Beers,” Brendan Whitworth expressed his frustration that products like trucks are described as American while beer is merely classed as domestic.
He wants that to change, asking partners to swap out their signage, menus and reports to instead denote his products—and home-grown competitors—as American.
“The pride we take in this great country should also be properly and accurately applied to our great American beers,” Whitworth wrote in the note obtained by CNN.
“They are brewed by American workers who receive American wages. They rely on American farmers and on American raw material suppliers. They support American causes like the military and first responders. They pay American taxes.”
It’s unclear—national pride aside—what Whitworth’s aim is in aligning Anheuser-Busch’s products like Budweiser and Stella Artois more closely with Uncle Sam.
Some of the intent may be to win the brand some positive PR, after its Budweiser label was subject to boycott after it worked on a social media promotion with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
The move would certainly fit in with the wider political rhetoric since Donald Trump’s election, putting American pride front and center.
But the timing of this announcement may also present some insight—let’s not forget, less than a week ago President Trump was preparing to hit Canada and Mexico with tariffs.
While the tariffs have been delayed, consumers may still wind up paying the import taxes later in the year—including on beverage products out of these nations such as Mexican beers and Canadian whiskies.
Being obviously marketed as a U.S. product, therefore, just got a whole lot more valuable to consumers in the aisles of an inflation-hit economy.
Domestic isn’t wrong
That being said, Whitworth wrote that the domestic classification isn’t wrong—it’s just not punchy enough.
“’Domestic’ isn’t necessarily an incorrect adjective to use,” he adds. “It just doesn’t fully capture the spirit and passion that’s intrinsic to the American beer industry and its brands. It also doesn’t fully capture the pride we should all take in products made right here in this great country.”
He continues: “It’s about time the whole industry begins to unilaterally use one of the strongest adjectives available to us: American. Leave ‘domestic’ for other less glamorous uses.”
The letter finishes: “Together, let’s leave ‘domestic’ in the rear-view mirrors of those good ol’ American pick-up trucks. Let’s all take more pride in our American beers.”
Anheuser-Busch did not immediately respond to Fortune‘s request for comment.
