Guinness, went their slogan, is good for you.
Donate a pint of blood? Good on you, and here's a pint to help build you back up.
Guinness is good for you. Or was good, at any rate. It's not to be proclaimed so anymore.
Diageo, the conglomerate that owns the black stuff, has decided that it's just not in keeping with modern thinking to promote an alcoholic beverage in a way that suggests it's a medicine. Even if the claim is nothing more than a charming old marketing gimmick that no one takes at face value these days.
Blood donors will no longer get their free pint, which will save Diageo some money and that's what big corporations are all about. Not that they're admitting to it, of course. They'll hide behind political correctness and trumpet their ideals of health and wellness and responsible drinking, all while promoting the consumption of alcohol to one and all.
Some swear by Guinness when they travel to high altitudes, taken as an iron supplement with a better taste than the pills your health-nut friend thinks are so brilliant. It's kept Irishmen alive for almost three hundred years, so there's got to be some good in it.
Corporate strategy trumps all, and it's that strategy that is bringing a long-standing promotion to a close.
No longer will Guinness be marketed as "good for you". On the other hand, it isn't bad, either.
Disclaimer: Please drink responsibly.
2 comments:
Geez, my mother had a Guinness every day, WHILE she was pregnant. We all turned out fine. None of us is an alcoholic, nor do-lally in any way. Well, I proclaim myself a writer, and we all know how weird that can be. I never developed a taste for it myself, but if I had, I certainly wouldn't care if it was actually GOOD for me, or not.
Many a man made a claim for the health benefits when he came home after tipping a few pints. How inconsiderate of Diageo to take that away.
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