Black Label
Encyclopedia
Black Label is a Canadian brand of lager
well-known throughout the former British Empire
. In several countries it is also known as Carling Black Label, and in Sweden it is known as Carling Premier. However, in the UK it is now known as just 'Carling' in response to public demand for a snappier call at the bar (according to the company).
Carling brands are currently owned by the Molson Coors Brewing Company
. In South Africa
it is distributed by SABMiller
.
Three years later Carling was purchased by Toronto business tycoon E.P. Taylor who merged the company into his Canadian Breweries Limited
, which grew to be (at least for a time) the world's largest brewing company. Under Taylor, Black Label was promoted as CBL's flagship brand and went on to become the world's first beer to be brewed on a mass international scale, becoming particularly popular in Commonwealth countries such as the United Kingdom
, Australia
, New Zealand
, and South Africa
.
brewery in 1877. Carling's Lager (later renamed Carling's Bavarian Stock Lager, and then Carling's Imperial Club Lager) was the company's first lager brand. Carling's Black & White Lager was introduced in the 1920s and later renamed Black Label Lager, in contrast to their recently launched Red Cap Ale.
Due to its strength and price the brand quickly became popular with the country's working-class, perhaps most famously among the loggers and miners of Northern Ontario where the brand gained a tough, blue collar image.
Around 1990, Black Label had probably one of the most successful advertising campaigns ever made in Canada which used the phrase 'The Legend is Black'. The genius of the advertising campaign came from the tendency for people in the trendy bars on Queen Street in Toronto
to drink Black Label because it was cheap.
When Carling 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 the U.S., the Black Label brand is owned by the Pabst Brewing Company
. Though no longer widely distributed in the U.S., Black Label remains the official beer of Beer Frisbee.
in 1952. Originally, it was only available in bottles, but in 1965 The Hill Top in Sheffield became the first pub to pour Carling on draught.
In the 1970s Carling Black Label was driven to great heights, due partly to increased advertising support, in particular the classic “I bet he drinks” series of adverts, and partly with the launch of Carling Black Label in cans. Cans were important to Carling’s success as they helped open up the “take home” market.
The “I bet he drinks” series of ads showed someone doing something cool, clever or difficult, and having a bystander say "I bet he drinks Carling Black Label". 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 became Britain's best-selling brand of beer in 1971.
Carling has remained Britain’s best selling beer since 1985. The “Black Label” was dropped from the name in 1997 and the brand's logo was updated.
than the other brands of beer (5.5% as opposed to 5% noted in the popular advertising catch phrase "only hard working students deserve an extra 0.5 percent") in the country, but the connotation of black
to the racial issue became a point of pride to the native Africans. It used to be sold with the motto, "America's Lusty, Lively Beer", perhaps in reference to Canada, though it is seldom seen in the United States. The motto came from an older advertising campaign in the United States, of which many pieces of advertising can still be purchased. The beer is commonly referred to as simply 'Black label' or, even more simply, in order to provide a snappy call at the bar, 'label' by South Africans. It also goes by the name 'Zamalek', 'quickcharge', 'silvertop' or '1011'. (10-11 Malt Liquor is a Carling's brand.) Another famous Afrikaans slogan for Black Label in South Africa is, "Black Label sê die bybel", which means "The Bible says one should drink Black Label".
The beer was parodied by South African t-shirt company laughitoff. The slogan was changed to "Black Labour, White Guilt" which led to an unsuccessful copyright infringement law suit from SABMiller
.
Lager
Lager is a type of beer made from malted barley that is brewed and stored at low temperatures. There are many types of lager; pale lager is the most widely-consumed and commercially available style of beer in the world; Pilsner, Bock, Dortmunder Export and Märzen are all styles of lager...
well-known throughout the former British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. In several countries it is also known as Carling Black Label, and in Sweden it is known as Carling Premier. However, in the UK it is now known as just 'Carling' in response to public demand for a snappier call at the bar (according to the company).
Carling brands are currently owned by the Molson Coors Brewing Company
Molson Coors Brewing Company
Molson Coors Brewing Company is a company that was created by the merger of two of North America's largest breweries: Molson of Canada, and Coors of the United States, on February 9, 2005...
. In South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
it is distributed by SABMiller
SABMiller
SABMiller plc is a global brewing and bottling company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's second-largest brewing company measured by revenues and is also a major bottler of Coca-Cola. Its brands include Grolsch, Miller Genuine Draft, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell...
.
History
Although its original focus was on ale, Carling has been brewing lager-style beers since the 1870s. In 1927, as part of an overall corporate rebranding effort under new president J. Innes Carling, the company renamed it's already popular "Black & White Lager" to "Black Label."Three years later Carling was purchased by Toronto business tycoon E.P. Taylor who merged the company into his Canadian Breweries Limited
Canadian Breweries Limited
Canadian Breweries Limited was an Ontario based holding company in the brewery industry. Originally named Brewing Corporation of Ontario, E. P. Taylor created the company in 1930 by merging Bradings Breweries Limited , and Capital Brewing of Ottawa and Kuntz Brewery of Waterloo, Ontario...
, which grew to be (at least for a time) the world's largest brewing company. Under Taylor, Black Label was promoted as CBL's flagship brand and went on to become the world's first beer to be brewed on a mass international scale, becoming particularly popular in Commonwealth countries such as the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
Canada
In response to a shift in popular taste away from ale, Carling added a three-story lager plant to their main London, OntarioLondon, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
brewery in 1877. Carling's Lager (later renamed Carling's Bavarian Stock Lager, and then Carling's Imperial Club Lager) was the company's first lager brand. Carling's Black & White Lager was introduced in the 1920s and later renamed Black Label Lager, in contrast to their recently launched Red Cap Ale.
Due to its strength and price the brand quickly became popular with the country's working-class, perhaps most famously among the loggers and miners of Northern Ontario where the brand gained a tough, blue collar image.
Around 1990, Black Label had probably one of the most successful advertising campaigns ever made in Canada which used the phrase 'The Legend is Black'. The genius of the advertising campaign came from the tendency for people in the trendy bars on Queen Street in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
to drink Black Label because it was cheap.
United States
After the repeal of prohibition in 1933, the Peerless Motor Car Company, looking for a way to diversify in the poor car market of the depression, purchased the American rights to Carling's formulas, identifying labels, and trademarks. Technicians and brew-masters were sent from Canada to convert a Peerless plant in Cleveland, Ohio into the Brewing Corporation of America. They first tried just brewing Carling's Red Cap Ale, but sales were too slow to maintain the brewery and sales didn't climb until the introduction of Black Label lager. The philosophy behind Black Label was to have a high quality lager that was available nationwide, but with a locally brewed budget price. The strategy worked and the next several decades led to rapid growth and expansion for the brewery and the Carling Black Label brand.When Carling 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
Miller Brewing
The Miller Brewing Company is an American beer brewing company owned by the United Kingdom-based SABMiller. Its regional headquarters are located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the company has brewing facilities in Albany, Georgia; Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; Eden, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas;...
and Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. , is an American brewing company. The company operates 12 breweries in the United States and 18 in other countries. It was, until December 2009, also one of America's largest theme park operators; operating ten theme parks across the United States through the...
Carling-National was bought out by the Heileman Brewing Co.
G. Heileman Brewing Company
The G. Heileman Brewing Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA, was a brewery firm that operated in 1858-1996. It was acquired in the latter year by Stroh's, and its independent existence ended...
of LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Carling and the Black Label brand are currently owned by the Molson Coors Brewing Company
Molson Coors Brewing Company
Molson Coors Brewing Company is a company that was created by the merger of two of North America's largest breweries: Molson of Canada, and Coors of the United States, on February 9, 2005...
. In the U.S., the Black Label brand is owned by the Pabst Brewing Company
Pabst Brewing Company
Pabst Brewing Company is an American company that dates its origins to a brewing company founded in 1844 by Jacob Best and by 1889 named after Frederick Pabst. It is currently the holding company contracting for the brewing of over two dozen brands of beer and malt liquor from defunct companies...
. Though no longer widely distributed in the U.S., Black Label remains the official beer of Beer Frisbee.
United Kingdom
Black Label was introduced to BritainUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1952. Originally, it was only available in bottles, but in 1965 The Hill Top in Sheffield became the first pub to pour Carling on draught.
In the 1970s Carling Black Label was driven to great heights, due partly to increased advertising support, in particular the classic “I bet he drinks” series of adverts, and partly with the launch of Carling Black Label in cans. Cans were important to Carling’s success as they helped open up the “take home” market.
The “I bet he drinks” series of ads showed someone doing something cool, clever or difficult, and having a bystander say "I bet he drinks Carling Black Label". Many of the adverts featured comedians Mark Arden
Mark Arden
Mark Arden is an English comedian and actor, best known for being one half of comic double act "The Oblivion Boys" with Stephen Frost....
and Stephen Frost
Stephen Frost
Stephen Frost , also known as Steve Frost, is an English comedian.Frost is known for his work in the 1980s with Mark Arden as part of the double act The Oblivion Boys on Saturday Live...
(alias The Oblivion Boys
The Oblivion Boys
The Oblivion Boys was a comedy double act primarily from the 1980s consisting of Mark Arden and Stephen Frost. As well as appearances on Saturday Live and The Young Ones they also became familiar to TV viewers in the UK as the frontmen for a series of Carling Black Label lager adverts....
) delivering the classic punchline. Largely because of this advertising campaign, it became Britain's best-selling brand of beer in 1971.
Carling has remained Britain’s best selling beer since 1985. The “Black Label” was dropped from the name in 1997 and the brand's logo was updated.
South Africa
In South Africa, Black Label began to take on a different tone with the anti-apartheid movements. Not only did it have more alcoholAlcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
than the other brands of beer (5.5% as opposed to 5% noted in the popular advertising catch phrase "only hard working students deserve an extra 0.5 percent") in the country, but the connotation of black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
to the racial issue became a point of pride to the native Africans. It used to be sold with the motto, "America's Lusty, Lively Beer", perhaps in reference to Canada, though it is seldom seen in the United States. The motto came from an older advertising campaign in the United States, of which many pieces of advertising can still be purchased. The beer is commonly referred to as simply 'Black label' or, even more simply, in order to provide a snappy call at the bar, 'label' by South Africans. It also goes by the name 'Zamalek', 'quickcharge', 'silvertop' or '1011'. (10-11 Malt Liquor is a Carling's brand.) Another famous Afrikaans slogan for Black Label in South Africa is, "Black Label sê die bybel", which means "The Bible says one should drink Black Label".
The beer was parodied by South African t-shirt company laughitoff. The slogan was changed to "Black Labour, White Guilt" which led to an unsuccessful copyright infringement law suit from SABMiller
SABMiller
SABMiller plc is a global brewing and bottling company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's second-largest brewing company measured by revenues and is also a major bottler of Coca-Cola. Its brands include Grolsch, Miller Genuine Draft, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Pilsner Urquell...
.