1st BATCH OF FILES AVAILABLE NOW!

This week in 1999, Miller's new senior sales veep Jim Mortenson testified at a trial in NC over Philip Morris' "Retail Leaders" program that rewarded retailers who prominently displayed PM cig brands didn't violate antitrust laws. "Retail leaders" got discounts (up to $5.50 per carton) and other payments for prominent display. But if they took PM $$, they weren't allowed to accept offers from other cig makers to improve their biz. PM competitors cried foul; one said it had "disastrous effect" on sales, according to AP. But Jim testified that the retailer still made final decision about where ads and/or product displayed. This wasn't a small amount of money. One retailer with 22 convenience stores testified that he could've received up to $500K but turned it down so he could offer more variety. Said too, that no beer, soda or snack vendors set conditions on display of rival brands like PM. Lawsuit was ultimately dismissed. This week in 2006 as World Cup tourney kicked off, AB was all-in, spending $70 mil on World Cup mktg, St Lou Post Dispatch reported. That was more than it spent on Super Bowl or Olympics, but most of effort was "focused&hellip;toward its core foreign markets of the UK and China," including special ads and promos. AB's US mktg effort was "less intense," and planned to use existing ads that simply identify AB as sponsor.This week in 2007, it was a "win for everybody," HUSA veep Don Blaustein told INSIGHTS about deal that eliminated "last remaining dual of any size" in key MA mkt, where HUSA sold over 4 mil cases and had 7 share. Once upon a time, Heineken had over a half dozen distribs in Boston metro. But the previous week Martignetti sold 1.5-2 mil cases of Heineken to 4 distribs; mostly to Horizon on Cape and in Boston, plus Atlas, Commercial and Merrimack north and west of Boston. It reportedly got $20/case for Heineken brand. The previous yr, Martignetti purchased big wine and spirits distrib United; also had several mil cases of high-end beer, Martignetti separately sold off some craft brands to AB network that yr too. Fast forward to recent yrs, Martignetti has become a sizable AB distrib in MA, acquiring AB indie house Quality Brands and AB One Boston. And it currently has a letter of intent to buy RNDC control state operations across 17 states.This week in 2010, Rabobank published deep dive into "Convergence in the Beverage Sector," weighing pros, cons and oppys of "blending" different industries, i.e. beer and wine, beer and non-alcs, etc. Key factors driving convergence were: 1) shrinking number of acquisition targets within specific bev bizzes, especially in developed mkts, that would not attract antitrust scrutiny/challenge; 2) changing consumer preferences for new types of drinks; 3) "unprecedented pricing pressure" from mega-retailers forcing bev cos to expand portfolios to keep shelf space; 4) oppys for growth, cost cutting, improving margins and strategic advantage vs. competitors. "Much of that makes sense, especially for beer in the US where US govt not likely to let ABI or MC bolt on acquisitions of any appreciable size," wrote INSIGHTS. Indeed, agreement between ABI and Pepsi to make joint purchases of non-bev goods/services was an example of convergence that could expand, Rabobank pointed out, as are beer/soft drink blends in Brazil (ABI), Mexico (FEMSA) and Australia (SABMiller). Two other examples of convergence that succeeded: 1) Diageo's use of spirits to grow in Ireland as beer biz slowed there; 2) Constellation's Crown Imports, where beer biz provided much more EBIT and return on assets than wine/spirits biz.This week in 2014, both AB and MC posted ingredients of their major brands to company-owned websites after a blast of media coverage and questions precipitated by "Food Babe's" flashy and pseudo-scientific PR and petition. "For anyone who doesn't know how the leading American lagers (or most other beers) are made, here are those ingredients: water, malted barley, hops, yeast plus adjuncts rice or corn, depending on the brand," wrote INSIGHTS. Not a big revelation. The supposed "policy change" came just a day after food activist Vani Hari, aka the "Food Babe," launched a petition calling for disclosure. That led Hari to praise her "Food Babe Army" for changing "the policy of a multi-billion-dollar company overnight." More media outlets jumped aboard, writing about the "first time" the beer makers have "revealed" ingredients, or the King of Beer's "secret," as Reuters did. Of course, 3 of those 5 ingredients had been on the Bud labels for many moons and the other 2 are hardly revelatory, noted INSIGHTS. But still, AB "has rolled over," wrote USA Today, while The Street called entire escapade "a coup."This week in 2015, AB won a sweeping victory from fed ct judge over charges that its Bud Light Lime-a-Ritas misled consumers into thinking they're lower in calories/carbs simply by using the word "light" in the name. This was just one in a spate of cases vs alc bev producers about claims in labels and ads at the time. Just as Fla fed judge upheld use of word "handmade" by Makers Mark, a Calif fed judge in this case found use of "light" was not misleading but permitted under TTB labeling regs. He also repeatedly ripped "deficiencies" in Plaintiffs' claims. Plaintiffs had argued that AB was subject to FDA regs on the Ritas, or that FDA regs "co-exist" with TTB's. But judge cited 1976 decision in a Brown Forman case that "already clarified this issue" that TTB is final authority on alc bev labeling, "with the exclusive effect of federal law." That meant: "In receiving COLAs for its can labels, the Court finds that the labels on the Ritas Products are permitted under federal law." And those labels disclosed the calorie and carb content. That also meant that the COLAs provide a "safe harbor" that "insulates AB from liability," which is what AB argued all along.This week in 2017, the most popular US sport, National Football League was changing its ad policy to allow distilled spirits that yr, Wall St Jnl reported. NFL planned to accept "no more than" 4 30-second "hard liquor spots per game with a limit of two such spots in any quarter or during halftime," wrote WSJ citing NFL memo. Additionally, networks could run 2 pregame or postgame spots. Also required: "a prominent social responsibility message." And at least 20% of ads must "consist exclusively of social responsibility messaging." Beer gets one ostensible offset, albeit minor; brewers would now be allowed to advertise FMBs on football. Allowing spirits was described as a "test," but "policy is expected to become permanent," noted WSJ. Even tho "liquor brands will still be treated as second class citizens compared with beer," wrote AdAge, "new league rules give liquor a boost in its long quest to be seen as socially acceptable as beer."

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