What beer would Obama choose for the Gates-Crowley meetup?
Posted on Mon Jul 27 2009
In seeking a resolution to the racially charged fracas over the arrest of black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates last week, President Obama has famously urged Gates and arresting officer Jim Crowley to have a beer together at the White House in what the president hopes will be a "teachable moment." That may be, but it could also be a very brand-able moment for the beer that's chosen to break the ice. But which brand would it be? If Obama had his druthers, the two would be imbibing Budweiser. In a February interview on Fox News, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs revealed the former all-American and now Belgian-owned brew as the president's favorite. Benj Steinman, president of Beer Marketer's Insights in West Nyack, N.Y., didn't care to venture a guess as to which brand of beer Obama would tap for the occasion, but said that the president's use of beer as a social lubricant was welcome. "It's come up a couple of times," Steinman says. "He likes his beer." UPDATE: Obama will indeed have a Budweiser, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday. Crowley will have a Blue Moon, and Gates will drink a Becks or a Red Stripe, according to CNN.
—Posted by Todd Wasserman
