1. A guy with a company that makes razors went to his boss and said “Hey – I know a way to double our sales. Put two blades in each razor.” (They’re up to five now.)
2. A guy with a beer company went to his boss and said “Hey – let’s take some of the calories out of beer so people will drink more of it. We can charge the same price.”
Piece of Mindful 
“A guy with a beer company went to his boss and said ‘Hey – let’s take some of the calories out of beer so people will drink more of it. We can charge the same price.’”
That never was the original intention of light beer brewers. Their original market was women, a market that had never been fully exploited since Repeal, and by the time Meister Brau in Chicago had perfected the light beer concept and branded the beer as Meister Brau Lite (and more so when Miller bought the brand in 1972 and used the deep pockets of its owner Philip Morris to expand the distribution and advertising of Meister Brau/Miller Lite), the market had been expanded further to include sports enthusiasts. It was the early 1970s and designer gym shoes and sweat suits were in vogue, Jim Fixx was pushing his long-distance running books before he had a grabber while running, and diet candies and sodas were coming on line. Diet products, health and exercise and exercise clothing were hot, hot, hot.
What happened later as to how the notion developed among beer drinkers that a low-calorie beer could mean that more beer could be consumed came at a later date, and not as the original intent of brewers.
The whole series of washed-up and retired sports jocks and “manly” writers such as Mickey Spillane being used in Miller Lite commercials was done to dispel the idea that light beer was a beer for women…or worse. One brewing industry insider referred to light beer as “queer beer,” and that was the real purpose of the macho beer commercials. Dispel the notion that light beer was a beer strictly for women and queers and the entire market of straight male beer drinkers could be exploited.
The idea that you could drink more light beers than regular beers came about as a secondary result of these commercials (“Less filling, taste great!”), but this was NOT the original and overt intent of anyone.
Light beers are now the biggest selling sector of beers in the US. Around 50% of beers sold in the US are light beer, with Bud Light being the best selling beer in the country) and one of the few beer sectors that continues to show growth, the others being the import trade, and finally, the craft beer business.
You’re spreading an urban beer legend. Read more about the development and growth of light beer in Beer & Food: An American History by me, Bob Skilnik.
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I’d also like to add the now famous “Hey we should add directions for shampoo: lather, rinse and REPEAT”.
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Thanks Bob! Never a day goes by …
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When I was in the frat a few of us would hang by the keg durring social functions with pichers of water. When some asked if we had light beer we’d say, of course, and then fill their glass half full of water before foaming the top.
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I have a much BUTTER story for you. About 12 years ago as part of a business trip, I took a tour of one of Montana’s biggest milk processing plants. The manager was showing me around and bragging about all his new equipment and such when we came to a product line that was packaging 2% milk.
“Do people actually drink 2% milk?” I asked. “The stuff tastes like water to me.”
“Oh you bet” said the manager. “It’s one of our best sellers.”
“Really?”
“Yes. They think butter fat is bad for them. But here’s the best part: Our 2% milk production has given us an extra 6000 pounds of butter each month, which we ship out of state at a pretty good profit.”
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