Bud Light, meanwhile, continues staggering fall.
When one thinks of Kelly Slater, the 11x world surf champion, him liking and/or drinking beer is not the first thing that pops to mind. The 54-year-old has been public about his dislike of strong drink. The great surf scribe Jamie Brisick even went so far as to call him “dangerously sober.”
Slater openly states that his position initially came from his mother, who, “…was like, ‘Look around you.’ She said, ‘I’ll be surprised if you ever see anyone who’s successful who’s an alcoholic or does drugs. It just doesn’t lead anywhere good. Put your energy into what you love.’” That stuck in Slater’s head and he’s lived his life sober. The equation is easy. If you think drugs and alcohol are going to help you get better at what you do, good luck… but it’s not going to happen.”
You can imagine, then, the shock when, six years ago, the father of almost two made a very public statement that he, in fact, likes beer. Slater can be seen paddling into the horizon with a bevy of others crooning “roll out the barrel and lend me your ears…”
Well, that beer he likes, Michelob Ultra, has slungshot off that endorsement all the way into the second most popular in the United States of America, leapfrogging the still-staggering Bud Light.
You will recall, the buzzsaw Bud Light waltzed into almost one year ago by putting the face of trans darling Dylan Mulvaney on a can which led to Kid Rock shooting up a case of suds which led to a boycott etc.
These being the culture war days of our lives.
Bud Light, in any case, is enjoyed 6.5% of the American public, Slater’s Michelob Ultra sipped by 7.3% and Mexico’s Modelo slugged the most, a whopping 9.7%.
But do you think that Rip Curl is sweating the tumble? You will also remember when the Australian wetsuit brand came under fire for celebrating trans surfer Sasha Jane Lowerson though very quickly erasing the support then apologizing. Breaths certainly being held in Torquay.
Slater, anyhow, never controversial.
A rocket to riches.
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Beer is so last decade. All the cool Carlsbad dads drink macha tea with pure Adderall crushed up in it. Then we gather at shitty wave parking lots and talk Sprinter van lift kits, Vuori joggers, youth soccer coaching styles, the best divorce lawyers, global IT outages and CrowdStrike stock. Then we gripe about the “way Carlsbad used to be before the pandemic.”
I believe it was the great Iain “Ratso” Buchanan who inspired Kelly to take to the suds, back in 2011. Ratso had won the World Masters Championships and got up to receive his trophy at the ASP awards shindig, delivering a stirring victory speech with his ubiquitous Steinlager in hand.
Kelly took the mic next and was heard to say: “Man, he makes me want to have a beer.”
Michelob Ultra is one of many awful corporate mass-produced beers.
Anyone that drinks it blindly cuz Slater does lacks all creativity. He is lacking some in the beer department as well.
There are countless small batch local breweries right where you live whose beer is far superior.
is this your application for The Brewers Association CEO position now that Bob Pease has resigned?
You know what’s tough af? Being afflicted with the alcoholism demon yet only drinking sparingly, it’s a fine line of relative sobriety but nothing surpasses a high quality rum on ice, a diabolically cold Tasmanian beer or the dull richness of a random French red from the the third bottom shelf. Oh god a double strength gin and soda laden with cucumber and lime before sliding into an offered ride.
Love your boundaries and knowingly dance with them.
Xox
Chaz Smith starving for attention brings up Slaters name again to draw readers in. What a queeb!
you know what they call Micholob Ultra in France?
Merde Royale
https://uploads.disquscdn.c… Senior Guapo says Tequila is what men drink, only sissies drink beer.
That guy in the photo with KS looks like one of many Medina’s IG admirers.
Slater’s mother never spent time on Wall Street as most who work there are professional alcohol conniossuers and drug aficionados.
His dad drank enough for the both of them.
Wasn’t aware of that dynamic. On a serious note, I talk to two close friends a couple of times weekly who I watched hit rock bottom, go to rehab and both are 11 and 13 yrs sober and kicking ass.
That’s awesome
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
His CarrotTop era is just round the corner
Mick [Fanning] Ultra… missed a yuuuge marketing opportunity there. It would increase sales by 10%
👍
Spoke to a butterfly yesterday who said having wings is heaps better than no wings..
But i thought budist monks and spiritual advisers to the dali lama only drank chai or holy water wtf
Hell grow on you
A massive tool is a feature, not a bug
Slater likes Hinano. He used to bring it to power games.
Ewwwww who still drinks beer? 😬
So many calories
Urgh! The bloat!!
Kelly would be drinking Zima if that shit was still around.
Yeah. I was going to say that Michelob Ultra is for men who lack the confidence to drink a hard seltzer if they want a hard seltzer.
See, surfing sells
Aldi…2 litres for 15 bucks. 3 litres and you can forget about everything for 12 hrs. Winwin
Do they sell 5 litres
I can’t remember …
Seriously