Who owns ST IDES MALT LIQUOR?

ST IDES MALT LIQUOR is owned by

PABST BREWING CO

Website

St Ides is a malt liquor brand that was introduced in the year 1987 by the McKenzie River Corporation, a beverage marketing company founded in San Francisco, California by Joseph Wessinger. The brand was created as part of a swell of popularity for malt liquors in the late eighties, and was designed to compete with Pabst Beer’s Olde English, Anheuser-Busch’s King Cobra, and G. Heileman’s Colt 45.

St. Ides was an early adopter of the integration of hip hop into its ad campaigns, with ads as early as 1988 using the motifs of the culture. In 1994, the company tapped West Coast producer DJ Pooh to create a jingle for the brand, which featured Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, Warren G, Nate Dogg, Cypress Hill, Notorious B.I.G., the Wu Tang Clan, and more.

Notably absent from the collaboration, however, was Public Enemy’s Chuck D, who had previously recorded “One Million Bottlebags” as a protest of the marketing of malt liquor to the Black community. In 1991, St. Ides used a sample from his song “Bring the Noise” in its ads, and Chuck D sued. The parties eventually settled out of court. That same year, McKenzie River also settled with the state of New York for allegedly targeting underage children in its advertising.

They discontinued the brand in 1998, and the rights were sold to Stroh Brewing. When Stroh Brewing broked up in 2000, many of its brands were picked up by Pabst Brewing Company, including St. Ides. Pabst has also begun creating a THC-based tea with the St Ides branding, known as “High Tea.” The product is made by pabst Labs, a cannabis-focused offshoot of Pabst.

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