A Pernicious Trend ?

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Ardross

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This stuff appears to be everywhere . I went to London the other week and loads of people seemed to be drinking it - some and I kid you not with ice . I understand it is just Bulmers cider under a fancy new name . When was Bulmers Irish ?

Anyone had it?
 
A very effective marketing/rebranding campaign Ardross - I'm surprised this is the first you have come across it - it's been on the go for 2 years now.

I've tried it (with ice :D ) and can confirm that it is somewhat refreshing for a change, although I couldn't drink more than one glass of the stuff.
 
I only noticed it with the World Cup advertising. Haven't drunk cider since about 1987 !- then it was Thresher Dry in a 2 litre plastic bottle :lol:
 
I thought Bulmers was always Irish!

It certainly seems to have caught on hugely in the UK under the Magners brand (apparantly it's a trademark issue that prevents them from calling it Bulmers). My girlfriend's brother works for Tescos over there and reckons the stuff is flying off the shelves as soon as they get it in.

I drink cider most of the time, and actually find Bulmers a bit too sweet. That said, on a hot day like today, out of a freezing cold pint bottle into a glass full of ice, it's pretty damn good...
 
Gulp - they will be putting ice in Guinness next ;)

There always used to be Bulmers cider in the UK when I was younger . Never liked it . I used to , when we could afford to upgrade from Thresher drink Merrydown that came in a silver bottle - do they still make that ?

Here is what the Bulmers site says -

Bulmers is the worlds largest cidermaker.
The company was founded in Hereford, England in 1887 by Percy Bulmer, the son of a local clergyman.
Percy made just 4000 gallons that first year. Now, Bulmers makes 65% of the five million hectolitres of cider sold annually in the UK.
Cider remains the 'core' of the Bulmers business, its main brands, Strongbow, Woodpecker and Scrumpy Jack, are all market leaders.
Bulmers cider can be found worldwide and Strongbow is sold across Europe, Scandanavia, USA, Australasia and the Far East.
 
Originally posted by Ardross@Jul 17 2006, 02:18 PM
I used to , when we could afford to upgrade from Thresher drink Merrydown that came in a silver bottle - do they still make that ?
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Ah, but did you feel dead posh when you bought the "gold" label stuff? :lol:

It was 2 litre Woodpecker "up the moor" for me.
 
Merrydown Gold missed out on that ! . I know read that apparently Bulmers and Magner merged in the 1930s but then split up in the 1940s .

Thus the Irish Bulmers have to call their cider Magners outside the Republic of Ireland as Bulmers retained the trademark for elsewhere.
 
The Hard Sell (at the start of the Guide in the Guardian of a Saturday) is often an amusing column. It takes a wry look at the world of advertising. This thread reminded me of the article below, which I read a few months ago.

The hard sell - Magners Irish Cider
Sam Delaney
Saturday April 29, 2006
The Guardian

You can be a hopeless dipsomaniac who defecates himself while waiting in line to buy a bottle of Teacher's at BuyBest. You can be a hopeless degenerate frantically licking the pub's vinyl floor in a desperate bid to imbibe some tiny trace of free alcohol. You can be a drunk driver who's just ploughed his speeding car into an orphanage while attempting to snort a tumbler full of gin through a straw. Just as long as you're Irish.

This is a golden rule of booze marketing. If you're English, Welsh or Scottish then heavy drinking is seedy, depressing and wrong. But if you're Irish it's somehow artistic and glamorous. Alcohol is what drives your burning Celtic soul. It helps you write poetry and informs your heartfelt political convictions. When we drink, we all pretend to be Irish in a bid to stave off the nagging emptiness in our souls. This explains the continued popularity of Guinness despite the fact that it tastes like Benylin mixed with Nescafé and Bovril. Damn it, if you're Irish, you can even get away with drinking cider!

Magners Irish Cider has proved irrefutably the marketing might of this cruel Irish stereotype. Had their beverage been called simply Magners Cider we'd have pigeonholed it just like every other brand of this glorified Appletize: as the preferred beverage of goths, bumpkins and murderers. But by inserting the word Irish they've made it this summer's booze du jour. They've tested the power of Irishness even further by promoting the drink with ads that are a real set of bastards. Some bloke in horrible slacks stands in an orchard examining an apple. Some men with neat haircuts swig pints of cider poured over ice.

A moody Oirish voiceover drools: "We could tell you it was all about craft, tradition and heritage - but we know it's all about the taste." Which is a lie. It's not about the taste. It's about pretending that you're James Joyce or Shane MacGowan and that you're getting pissed to reconcile your intense masculinity with your deeply romantic soul. Rather than the fact that you're a weak, pathetic booze-hound who despises every detail of your hellish, pub-bound existence.
 
I drink cider a lot and I think Magners is a bit sweet for me.

It was Diamond White for me in the park. I got so drunk on it once; I had no bottle opener so just smashed the top on a bus shelter and drank from the broken bit!!
 
I see a large percentage of our esteemed members have been degenerate "outside cider" drinkers. I'm not sure whether to be horrified or strangely reassured.
 
Originally posted by PDJ@Jul 17 2006, 05:08 PM
It was Diamond White for me in the park. I got so drunk on it once; I had no bottle opener so just smashed the top on a bus shelter and drank from the broken bit!!
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No wonder the schoolkids of the West Midlands are growing up as they are...
 
I used to drink praaaper warm scrumpy when I lived in Debbun, ghastly stuff though I think it now. Then I just drank any old zoider, but cold. Haven't had it in years, so I ought to try it again - it used to be my favourite drink for a long time.
 
I believe in the '80s it was de rigeur (or is that compulsory?) to wean oneself on Cider and blackcurrant until finding ones lager legs. Are we coming full circle? :blink:
 
My tottering steps were: mixed Martinis over ice with a slice, cider; white lightning with tonic (for about 20 years) or 'brown' (white lightning matured in oak chips) and Coke; Jack Daniels/Wild Turkey/Famous Grouse/Jim Beam and Pepsi; now it's a splosh of Cava or champagne (I like each equally well), or voddie or gin and tonic. So, no, I managed a beer bypass quite happily!
 
There was a wee bit of involvement with Cinzano and then Bacardi in my mid teens if I remember correctly....:shy:
 
There was a vast amount of experimentation I haven't mentioned, though, Shadz! One such marathon of scientific testing took place on board the Windsor Castle, when Mum and I were returning to the UK for good (or bad) in 1964. We went down for a pre-lunch drinkie to the deck bar... and lingered... and I finally put HER to bed at 10.00 p.m.! I called for sandwiches and the darling stew who brought them said, "I understand from the Deck bartender that someone's feeling a little bit poorly" - he was amazed to see it was Mommie Dearest, groaning on her bed, and not the 19 year-old!
 
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