Beer Gets Sexed Up By a Brand Named Bootie

Self proclaimed as ?America?s Entertainment Beer,? the newly launched Bootie Beer may be a hit or a miss depending on your opinion of the aforementioned industry. ?What do young people love more than sex, money and beer?? asks Vice President, Tania Torruella, when explaining that the term ?bootie? refers to both money (pirate?s loot) and sex (that grabable thing on your honey?s backside).

So it?s a cute name with a naughty underbelly; kind of like the Britney Spears of beer. But is this what America needs? A Britney Spears of beer?

Okay, I admit, I am a bit of a beer snob. So shoot me. While I have been known to choose a new and exotic beer based on a label or a name, it is the flavor of the brew that earns its praise or an early dump down the kitchen sink. After choking back a Bootie or two, I have come to the decision that this beer is best left to the clubs where it can be a novelty inebriator which, it seems, is exactly the point. Entertainment need not be confused with art.

?As America?s Entertainment Beer, we are planning on hosting a lot of Bootie night promotions, and associating ourselves with some of the trendiest entertainers in the music industry,? Torruella says. The Boston based company (though the beer is officially brewed in La Crosse, Wisconsin) made its debut at the Boston Music Awards, with Chris Kirkpatrick from N?SYNC of yesteryear as its spokes-hunk. The plan is to target the young generation of beer drinkers, with a young, edgy image, and as few calories as possible. Bootie Light weighs in at just 2.6 Carbs and 95 Calories.

One must give the Bootie people credit for recognizing and defining a market that had yet to be targeted. While I would argue that a witty marketing team and trendy packaging do not a good beer make, I can also see how a generic beer flavor would not seem so bad under the pound and thump of club beats and flashing lights. And, if one is to maintain a tight and club-worthy bootie, drinking lo-cal beer is certainly one way to go.

What Bootie describes as a ?light and smooth taste that makes it easy to enjoy? I would term one step up from my regrettable Natty Ice frat house beer bong playing days. Again, these things such as taste become less of an issue when the scene is to be seen, and there is more at stake than the beverage one holds in his or her hand.

Am I a curmudgeon? Perhaps. I enjoy fewer nights out than I used to, and at home I want a beer that makes me wonder with its complexity, not one justifies slamming eight bottles for under twenty calories. I drink beer for the quality of the liquid inside, not the name on the label outside. Bootie Beer seeks to integrate into an cultural scene of images, and in this role it will find its own success. With cute catch phrases like ?Grabebootie? and ?Grab a Bootie but grab responsibly? its difficult not to have a soft spot for the cheeky new company. But for a girl who likes indy films and world music, ?America?s Entertainment Beer? invites much skepticism.

For more Bootie information visit www.bootiebeer.com