Carling

From Free net encyclopedia

For other uses, see Carling (disambiguation).

Carling is the name of a brand of lager in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and South Africa. Carling Black Label is the best selling beer in the UK.

1 History
2 Sponsorship
3 Brands
4 Black Label
5 References
6 External links

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History

In 1840 Thomas Carling began a small brewing operation in London, Ontario selling beer to soldiers at the local military camp. When he died, his sons William and John took over, naming it the W & J Carling Brewing Co. John Carling became a prominent figure in Canadian business and politics and was later knighted in 1893. Sir John Carling died in 1911 and the company has changed hands numerous times since.

Carling O'Keefe Breweries was bought by Elders IXL of Australia in 1987 and later merged with Molson to form Molson Breweries Canada in 1989.

Carling brands are currently owned by the Molson Coors Brewing Company. In South Africa it is distributed by SABMiller.

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Sponsorship

Since 2003, Carling has sponsored the Football League Cup.

Carling sponsored Orteig Prize contenders Capt. Terry Tully, and Lieut. James Medcalf in their plane the Sir John Carling. They took off on August 28, 1927 from London, Ontario, headed for London, England (United Kingdom), but they never returned.

From 1993 to 2001 Carling was the sponsor of the FA Premier League, one of the top sporting leagues in the world, as well as Celtic Football Club, and Rangers Football Club the two largest Scottish teams. Carling is also known for sponsoring the Carling Weekend music festivals which takes place at the end of August each year over two venues, Leeds and Reading.

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Brands

Carling Black Label is the best selling beer in the United Kingdom.
Carling Black Label Ice is a very strong, low-priced ice beer sold in Canada with an alcohol content of 6.1%, previously sold as Molson Black Ice in the United States.
Carling Premier a stronger version of Carling Black Label, with an alcohol content of 4.7%. In cans it is sold with a widget.

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Black Label

Black Label is a brand of beer well known throughout the former British Empire except for the United States, where it is best known for its slogan "Hey Mabel, Black Label!". In several countries it is also known as Carling Black Label.

Created in Cleveland, Ohio in 1933 in the former Peerless Automobile factory, Black Label was the Carling Company's foray into the American market. Black Label's stated purpose was to be high quality beer at a discount rate, strategically placing breweries around the country to ensure low costs and fresh taste. Their strategy turned them from the 20th largest brewer in the United States to the 8th largest brewer in a matter of six years.

In Britain, Black Label began to take off and was shipped around the globe where it took up residence in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

After the Carling breweries in the United States stopped producing Black Label to focus on a more profitable lager, they found their sales plummeting and re-introduced Black Label with a beautiful blonde named Mabel, portrayed by Jeanne Goodspeed. The twenty year marketing campaign cemented the name in the popular culture of America.

In 1979, after several years of intense pressure from the larger American Brewers Miller and Anheuser-Busch Carling-National was bought out by the Heileman Brewing Co. of LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Carling and the Black Label brand are currently owned by the Molson Coors Brewing Company.

In South Africa, Black Label began to take on a different tone with the anti-apartheid movements. Not only did it have more alcohol than the other brands of beer in the country, but the connotation of black to the racial issue became a point of pride to the native Africans.

In the United Kingdom, Black Label is a best known for another series of ads showing someone doing something cool, clever or difficult, and having a bystander say "I bet he drinks Carling Black Label". Created by the WCRS agency in 1989, many of the adverts featured comedians Mark Arden and Stephen Frost (alias the Oblivion Boys) delivering the classic punchline. Largely because of this advertising campaign, it has been the best-selling brand of beer in Britain since 1971, although it is not particularly well-regarded by beer aficionados.

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