The Coming Beer Head Imprinting Crisis!

Whether the world was asking for it or not, there’s now a machine that will imprint images on your beer’s head…and we expect its introduction to have consequences for the craft beer industry.

Here’s the deal…

This new beer head imprinter, Beer Ripples, was recently unveiled at a New York Yankees media tasting where beer foam imprints of the team’s leading players got that franchise in trouble with the MLB.

Once the MLB caught wind of the beer head portraits they jumped ugly, reminding the Yankee organization “that the league does not allow active players to be involved in the advertising or promotion of alcohol-related products,” according to the Washington Post.

It’s true, the Yankees received a verbal ‘cease and desist’ for imprinting their players pictures in beer foam at a private media event, (again, we can’t make this stuff up).

What with craft beer’s landscape changing and everything getting so much more competitive, introducing beer head imprinting into the mix is fraught with peril.

Will Sam Calagione afford bars discounted pricing on his Dogfish Head beers if they promise to serve them with his portrait plastered in that beer’s head?

Will the Brewers Association advise “small and independent brewers”with a Beer Ripple machine to imprint the “Seal of Independence” on ALL the beers served at their tasting rooms? Will that be seen as a positive by consumers who already frequent tasting rooms or be viewed as negative and unsolicited overkill?

What if a Stone logo ends up in a customer’s Goose Island beer head? Who sues who in that case? Stone certainly doesn’t need that kind of association and AB InBev has a huge team of lawyers!

It’s a nightmare…

What if retailers start charging for personal beer head imprints, making a pricy night out on the town even more expensive?

And while that additional cost might be good for the bar, it could spell disaster for local brewers who would rather that customers spend what money they have on another of their beers rather than on a foamy selfie.

AB InBev’s probably already shipping Ripples Beer printing machines to retailers who quietly commit to doubling up on their ‘crafty brands’ like Devils Backbone, Blue Point and Wicked Weed…but unfortunately there’s no going back.

Because the Beer Ripple Maker has opened a Pandora’s Box of possibilities (both good and bad) and who knows how wild things are going to get!

Image credit: Beer Ripples and DogFish Head