Amid outcries San Francisco’s Anchor brewery goes for rebrand
USA | Going for a whole new design can prove fatal, as the iconic heritage brewery, the San Francisco Potrero Hill Brewery, formerly known as the Anchor Brewery and revived by Fritz Maytag in 1965, is currently experiencing.
Anchor celebrates its 125th anniversary in February 2021, which makes it America’s oldest craft brewery. For some reason, its new owner, Japan’s drinks company Sapporo (since 2017), decided to give the beloved, vintage-feeling labels for the porter, California lager, Liberty Ale and Anchor Steam beers a makeover – the first time in modern history.
Angry consumers
The brightly coloured minimalist new labels, which the official spin described as “retro”, have drawn some passionate reactions on digital media, mostly of the negative variety.
To appease disgruntled consumers, the brewery put on a week-long promotion in January, selling a six-pack of Anchor Steam for what it called a “retro-priced” USD 1.25, instead of the usual USD 9.00.
It seems that Anchor’s designers got things totally wrong. While it is easy to conflate heritage brands with retro brands, there is a fundamental difference: heritage brands use their past as proof of the high quality of their offering. For retro brands, however, the past is a commodity in itself and the product merely subservient to it. No wonder Anchor’s fans were outraged.
