Comments from Kid Rock about Badass Beer...
How did things materialize with your new beer, Bad Ass Beer?
I was approached by Drinks Americas about doing my own beer.
We talked about it and it obviously made sense … I love beer. I consider myself a pro. When I used to have my deal with Coors Light, it was very good to me, I would be a smart *ss on my son’s emergency card form and stuff for school, I would write “professional beer drinker.” I was getting paid to drink.
So, they approached me and we talked about [it] and they wanted to start in New York or something and I said, “Really? If we could do something in Michigan … I don’t know what the Stroh’s plant looks like or what the breweries are like, but if we could investigate that and if there is a way I could do it and make it there and do something to help out the economy there and keep people employed … that would be a great thing.” Low and behold, it worked out beyond what I ever thought it could of in what’s happened in Webberville with the Michigan Brewing Co. and the million dollars that has been invested in tax breaks from the government and hiring 450 people. It’s all been very positive … even though it’s going to get really negative as soon as I start f*cking with all the other beer companies with our ads because it’s going to be so much fun.
Really … who are you going to put on blast?
We’re putting Budweiser, Corona, St. Pauli’s Girl … pretty much anyone who just makes a funny ad. It’s not that I have anything against them. It’s just funny that with my image and calling it Bad Ass Beer … the stuff you can do with it is just endless. The marketing is hilarious.
How involved are you with the actual development of the beer?
We had a few different tasting tests and bring three beers in at a time and number them one, two, three and have a bunch of friends, family, whoever, out to a local pub ... and I’d have everyone write down what number they liked. I really just wanted to make a normal beer. People out in the parking lots of Kid Rock shows or Lynyrd Skynyrd shows or Tom Petty shows, they are not drinking premium beer. Times are tight … people want to have something refreshing with no aftertaste, that is not expensive and, you know, it’s cool and that’s what I’ve really tried to model it after ... we always say, “This isn’t about drinkability, it’s about slamability.”
I assume you will probably be criticized for the beer and all of the other things you do, despite the fact that they effect our community in an extremely positive way. How do you deal with the haters these days?
There is too much good to focus on it ... I’ve always said … if Jesus Christ was sent back to earth to forgive us for all our sins … I’m very confident that the first person that gets a picture of him will throw it up TMZ and I’m pretty sure the first comment will be “Jesus is a f*cking douche bag.” You learn … there are people that work a long time to get to the positions they are in. When you are talking about ... what some smart *ss 16-year-old kid says on a blog, I’ve learned, it’s all very funny and entertaining, but it’s just not very relevant to anything ... I know I’ve worked a long time and very, very hard to get to this position and I get to make a lot of people happy.
