re: If this ends up killing the Bud Light brand, what is a comparable precedent?

quote:

---

BL’s problem is that it is a shite product propped up by marketing and entropy (brand loyalty).

---

I wouldn't go so far to say it is a "shite product". It fills a role just fine. Inexpensive lager beer that can appeal to a wide subsect of the population. While it may be "beneath" hardcore beer drinkers, most American's prefer to get something like that because they know what they are getting (consistency) and don't care enough about beer to pay 25%, 30%, 40% more for a brand in a goofy can they have never heard of.

A better description is that it's nondescript. BL has never been my favorite beer. But if I were at a tailgate party, the beach, a pool party, etc and that was all that was available I was fine with drinking it. The problem is the same could be said about Coors, Miller, etc. Now, like you said, BL has given people a reason to NOT buy their beer. And when you have nothing except entropy to distinguish it, that is a bad place to be in the market.