With most movies and TV shows now and days you are sure to see a character or two relax with a nice beer every now and then. But for the most part it will either be a completely unnamed beer or one made up just for the television show. But a trend is starting to form where craft beers are being seen more often on the big and little screen.
In the television series Reno 911 and their movie Reno 911: Miami the Dogfish Head brand is seen quite often. Whether it be actual beer or tacker signs the off centered brewers are present quite a good deal. Now you are probably asking how a small independant brewery from Deleware got their product placed in such a recognizable media show. Well it turns out that Thomas Lennon, who plays the ever hilarious Lt. Dangle, goes back to college days with DFH owner Sam Calagione.
A couple quick other movies I have spotted craft beer in include Kona Brewing in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Stone Arrogant Bastard in Cabin Fever.
And while on the topic of Stone they have made quite a presence on the small screen by their product making constant appearances on the Showtime hit show Weeds. The show takes place in a fictional neighborhood somewhere in Southern California so having a SoCal brewer present in the show only makes sense. The character Andy is seen on a few times drinking such Stone brews as Levitation, Oaked Arrogant Bastard and the original Arrogant Bastard. In one episode he is even seen wearing a Stone t-shirt. Great publicity for one of the countries leading craft breweries.
I tried looking all over the internet for some screen shots of any of these cameos but of course it is somewhat hard to do. I was able to come across some pictures of Andy with Stone bottle around from Weeds. So for your enjoyment here they are.
I can’t help but think that this is a great step for craft beer every where. It is a form of advertising to where maybe someone that has never had one of these brews before will become curious. They might think to themselves, “Hey I should look for that beer with the demon on it.” Time will tell if this will help generate more attention to craft brew but I can’t think that it is anything but a plus.
Have you seen craft beer in a movie or on TV. Please share!
8 Comments
I have also noticed a number of craft brews in No Reservations before ranging from Anchor to Chimay to Great Lakes.
August 21, 2009 at 8:36 amI knew there was a downside to not watching TV! I have no answers! All I know is that I see Duff from time to time on the Simpsons!
August 26, 2009 at 10:59 amThis is very interesting post Mike. Somehow I missed it the first time around. Duff…funny stuff.
I don’t watch much tv or movies, so unfortunately at this point I can’t add to the discussion, but I will be on the lookout now. I did watch the movie ‘beerfest’ but for the life of me can’t remember any name brands in the movie.
Either way, your article shows that beer is less of a low-brow beverage in the refined eyes of Hollyweird than it used to be.
September 1, 2009 at 8:32 amThis post reminds me of the movie The Truman Show where they would blatantly use product placement for every product around the house. It would have been great if they had Jim Carrey sucking down a Stone Russian Imperial Stout. Off the top of my head I can’t think of any movies that have featured craft beer, beer will certainly be looking for them now.
September 23, 2009 at 9:23 amlol I meant *but* will certainly be looking for them now. Wow, I blame it on all this GABF talk..
September 23, 2009 at 1:39 pmI know what you mean about all the GABF talks. I’m going to a local beer fest this Saturday. Not nearly a big deal but should be fun anyway.
September 23, 2009 at 4:31 pmI’ve been going through the seasons of Dexter and notice a lot of different beers in there. One episode I just saw had Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and what looked like the Sierra Nevada Porter in a victims fridge.
September 24, 2009 at 5:29 pmHm I’ve been wanting to check that show out. One more reason to add it to the Netflix queue.
September 25, 2009 at 7:50 am