The Brewers Association Is Launching a Crowdfunding Campaign to Buy AB InBev for $213 Billion

Sterling-Rice Group created a lighthearted yet serious ad

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It’s the largest crowdfunding effort ever and even its backers realize it has the slimmest chance of possibly succeeding.

So why is Sterling-Rice Group (SRG) helping the nonprofit Brewers Association in an effort to crowdfund a purchase of AB InBev, the world’s largest brewery, for $213 billion?

SRG executive creative director Adam Wohl told Adweek the campaign grew out of the ways in which AB InBev and other macrobreweries responded to craft’s increase in market share, namely, buying up independent breweries and forging “relationships that enabled them to have a little more control of the production of beer, control of the distribution of beer and control of ownership of hops.”

Back in March, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control reached a $400,000 settlement with AB InBev over alleged “pay-to-play” activities with Southern California retailers, following an investigation by the organization.

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