# Fosters: Australian for......bullshit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093 "2010-05-20T02:57:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/41 "2010-05-21T09:05:02Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I had [Coopers](http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/coopers-premium-lager/54140/4000/) about 2 weeks ago. It was just mediocre. I’m not a fan of either, to be honest. And if they’re going to the trouble of importing actual, brewed-in-Australia beers to the US, I would have thought they’d go with something like Crown Premium Lager, Toohey’s New, or even VB. You know, popular beers that lots and lots of people here actually drink. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/42 "2010-05-21T12:52:29Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > You know, popular beers that lots and lots of people here actually drink. 🙂 Why? This is international brand marketing. CUB, as it was then, looked at it’s stable of brands and selected Fosters as it’s international flagship. It simply couldn’t have been Calton Draught, Melbourne Bitter or Victorian Bitter. There has never been any survey results that indicate that Crown, Tooheys or VB for that matter are more accepted in international tasting panels. The very nature of the “internationally accepted taste” and the corresponding marketing plan were likely to cause it’s local demise. I’d reckon if they had chosen Crown it’s sales would have fallen away locally in much the same manner. Can you name an Australian food/beverage brand that’s a market leader here and is established in the US market? Hell, the US market doesn’t like Tim Tams. Yes, Fosters does not rank in Fosters Brewing’s Top 10 sellers in Australia. There is no reason it needs to. The fact that it doesn’t allowed Fosters to sell off the brand to keep the company going. Pragmatic business. FWIW, a commentary from [Trevor O’Hoy](http://www.australianbeers.com/beers/interview/ohoy/ohoy.htm), ex CEO of Fosters Brewing. Personally, I can’t recall drinking it in 25 years. My preference runs to the James Squires stable or to the Coopers family. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/43 "2010-05-21T17:59:55Z")
Fosters isn’t the ultimate marketing gimmick that Yanks just can’t see. After all, Fosters really is an Australian beer. The real winner is [Outback Steak House](http://www.outback.com/companyinfo/). > [@](#): > > Outback Steakhouse is an Australian themed steakhouse restaurant. Although beef and steak items make up a good portion of the menu, the concept offers a variety of chicken, ribs, seafood, and pasta dishes. The Company’s strategy is to differentiate its restaurants by emphasizing consistently high-quality food and service, generous portions at moderate prices and a casual atmosphere suggestive of the Australian Outback. > > OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC, headquartered in Tampa, Florida was founded in 1988 by those who believe in hospitality, sharing, quality, being courageous and having fun! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/44 "2010-05-21T18:59:50Z")
What about Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, Olivia Newton-John, and Naomi Watts? None of them originally from Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/45 "2010-05-21T19:17:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > What about Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, Olivia Newton-John, and Naomi Watts? None of them originally from Australia. Nicole Kidman was born a dual U.S.-Australian citizen, because her parents were Australian. Olivia Newton-John moved to Australia at the age of 6 – I’m not sure if she or her parents were ever naturalised as Australian citizens, but they might have been. (I knew Olivia NJ’s father quite well, and nearly got to meet her when she was aged about 15 and singing in a coffee shop in Melbourne.) ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/46 "2010-05-21T23:06:14Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Hello, hello, is this thing on? Have you read this thread? Yes. What are you referring to? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/47 "2010-05-21T23:19:55Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > Since the late 70s, every Australian man I’ve met has felt compelled to mention that no one actually drinks Fosters in Australia. And this was just slipped into normal conversations. It wasn’t like I was pantomime-playing a didgeridoo while shouting “g’daaaay Bruce” and asking after their kangaroos. I have encountered that too. Aussies seem to think that we Poms are crazy for Fosters lager, and they can’t wait to tell us that nobody drinks it in Australia. There was a heavy marketing campaign for the brand here in the 80s, which may have given the impression to visitors that it was extremely popular, but really it’s just one of many brands of mass-market lager. Most of it is made in the UK anyway, so what’s the difference? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/48 "2010-05-22T00:58:23Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Yes. What are you referring to? True Australian Fosters is primarily the stuff brewed in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/49 "2010-05-22T01:20:17Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > I have encountered that too. Aussies seem to think that we Poms are crazy for Fosters lager, and they can’t wait to tell us that nobody drinks it in Australia. There was a heavy marketing campaign for the brand here in the 80s, which may have given the impression to visitors that it was extremely popular, but really it’s just one of many brands of mass-market lager. Most of it is made in the UK anyway, so what’s the difference? Castlemaine XXXX was the brand that I remember being most heavily promoted then. “Australians wouldn’t give XXXX for anything else”, as wife and kids fall into gully. At the time it was brewed in Alloa. It wasn’t even the worst beer brewed there at the time, but close. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/50 "2010-05-22T04:18:47Z")
> [@](#): > > Nicole Kidman was born a dual U.S.-Australian citizen, because her parents were Australian. But Nicole Kidman was born in Hawaii. So she’s a Kenyan. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/51 "2010-05-23T08:41:03Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Why? Because James Boags and Coopers don’t taste that nice (IMHO) and, in my experience working in bottle shops and hospitality, aren’t _that_ popular? Obviously people buy them, but compared to the quantities of the other stuff it was in pretty small amounts. Certainly, if I was in charge of the Australian Beer Export Board James Boag’s and Cooper’s wouldn’t be on the shortlist of “Beers to Export In Commercial Quantities”- I’d have things like James Squires’, Hahn Super Dry (or Toohey’s Extra Dry), and Crown Premium Lager there instead. > [@](#): > > There has never been any survey results that indicate that Crown, Tooheys or VB for that matter are more accepted in international tasting panels. The very nature of the “internationally accepted taste” and the corresponding marketing plan were likely to cause it’s local demise. I’m not a marketing expert but it would seem to me there’s no reason you couldn’t just market the stuff “As-is”- “Crown Premium Lager; the Premium Australian Lager People In Australia Actually Drink”. Also, the “Made From Beer” Carlton Draught ads would work just fine overseas as well, I think. > [@](#): > > Can you name an Australian food/beverage brand that’s a market leader here and is established in the US market? Hell, the US market doesn’t like Tim Tams. [Milo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milo_%28drink%29) springs readily to mind. I don’t know about the US but it’s available all over South-East Asia and many, many other countries (including New Zealand, the UK, and South Africa), according to Wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/52 "2010-05-23T09:30:20Z")
Oh yeah, Milo is big in Thailand. Good stuff that, better than Ovaltine. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/53 "2010-05-23T15:49:09Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Hell, the US market doesn’t like Tim Tams. It’s not that we don’t like them. It’s that we don’t like paying six-to-eight bucks for a package of cookies. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/54 "2010-05-23T20:36:34Z")
Milo is Australian? I always thought it was a Latin American product. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/55 "2010-05-23T21:20:02Z")
Fosters is just a mass-market, generic lager, that happens to be made in Australia, and has a big can. It is just like Budweiser (AKA “sudsweiser”). A beer to drink cold, without much flavor or character. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/56 "2010-05-24T00:08:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Milo is Australian? I always thought it was a Latin American product. It’s originally Australian, developed in the 1930s. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/57 "2010-05-24T01:56:04Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But Nicole Kidman was born in Hawaii. > > So she’s a Kenyan. Yes – and they are plotting to make her the first Australian President of the US. It’s the great Kenyan-Hawaiian conspiracy. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/58 "2010-05-25T11:53:20Z")
Funny thing about Corona – I had it in the can, where the stuff doesn’t get the chance to skunk in the sunlight as it does in the clear bottles. Turns out that skunking was a good part of the unique flavor of Corona. In the can, it tastes like many other flavor-less American brews. ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/59 "2010-05-25T12:32:39Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > … [Milo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milo_%28drink%29) springs readily to mind. I don’t know about the US but it’s available all over South-East Asia and many, many other countries (including New Zealand, the UK, and South Africa), according to Wikipedia. There would be a few Australian wines too. Jacobs Creek frinstance, or is that only Europe. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093/60 "2010-05-25T13:28:01Z")
Our local Outback had Tooheys New for awhile, but they’ve stopped carrying it. Milo is available in our local Kroger, but it’s in the Mexican food section (??). I would agree with the Australian wine. Yellow Tail is probably the most mass-marketed, popular one, but Jacob’s Creek, Penfolds, and some other big brands are readily available. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fosters-australian-for-bullshit/540093.md?page=4)