From the sound of things, the folks over at Budweiser have a lot of free times on their hands. Otherwise there's no way they would have spent the past three years developing their new bow tie-shaped beer can.
See also: - Chow Bella's Gift Guide for the Hipster - A Hipster's Guide to Farm Animals - 9 Things That Make Phoenix a Better Food (and Drink) Town than New York City
Apparently no one told Budweiser that the bow tie trend has sort of come and gone (except maybe the wooden ones). Not that they would be able to pull back on this one after spending tons of money on new equipment and packaging line improvements.
The company isn't necessarily trying to target hipsters with the new can design -- at least that's not what they're saying was the main reasoning behind the design. Supposedly, the cans are meant to look like the Budweiser logo, which, in case you haven't noticed (we hadn't until now) is shaped like a bow tie.
The press release does say that, "The bow tie can is another example of how Budweiser continues to innovate, evolve and attract a new generation of beer drinkers." So maybe they are going for the hipster crowd after all, though they could have saved a lot of money by just making worse tasting beer and being ironic to capture that demographic.
"This can is certainly a conversation starter: eye-catching, easy-to-grip, trendy and -- according to our research -- very appealing to young adults," said Pat McGauley, vice president of innovation for Anheuser-Busch in the press release. "It's a beer can like no other."
Apparently the company has been looking into can innovations for the past few years. To make this shape happen they took in the straight wall of the can a whopping 10 degrees, so the slimmer cans hold 11.3 ounces of beer and have about 137 calories. That's about 8.5 calories fewer than a traditional 12-ounce can of Bud.
"This can is incomparable, like nothing you've ever seen before," McGauley said. "The world's most iconic beer brand deserves the world's most unique and innovative can. I think we have it here."
You'll be able to buy the cans in special 8-packs on May 8. If you're interested in getting specific locations where the cans will be available for purchase, call 1-800-DIAL-BUD.