TMZSports.com
Bud Light and Miller Lite have found themselves at the center of a political debate, something Troy Aikman says will never be the case with his beer company, EIGHT … the Hall of Famer tells us they’ll never get political — left, right, or center — they just want to make good beer!
“I think there are a lot of companies out there that want to tell everybody who they are, or what they are about, and they’re not focused on the product itself,” Aikman told Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs weekdays on FS1).
Troy continued, “We wanted to get the message out there if you’re tired of all these points of view by all these big companies and you just want a company that’s focused on what it is that they do,” then EIGHT is for you.
EIGHT
Of course, Bud Light and Miller Lite have faced boycotts from angry customers over recent ad campaigns.
In fact, Bud Light sales are reportedly down over 20%, and Anheuser-Busch, who makes BL, market cap (total value of companies stock) has taken an $18 BILLION hit, down from over 132B in April, to about 113B today.
Clearly, Americans are split on many issues … and Aikman believes most consumers just want a company that isn’t phony, and most importantly, makes a good product.
“With so many of these companies coming out with bold, oftentimes polarizing positions, and they lack authenticity, and it’s really just trying to gain market share. I think people see through that.”
The 3x Super Bowl champion continued … “I think they just want companies that are focused on the brands themselves, they don’t want brands that are trying to get political, we’re certainly not. We don’t want to be a part of any debate outside of someone drinking EIGHT beers while they’re having a discussion is really our perspective.”
Troy says EIGHT, which he launched last year (he says sales have steadily grown since), is still only available in Texas … but that will likely change in the future.
Until then … Aikman says you can count on them to keep churning out beer while avoiding polarizing issues.
“I just think the last thing people want is another point of view.”
Bottoms up.