VIDEO: The Beer Store’s new PSA-style commercial warns about the dangers of corner-store booze sales
With pro-privatization sentiment at an all-time high in Ontario, The Beer Store may be feeling a bit threatened. That could explain this new PSA-style commercial, embedded above, in which the booze conglomerate employs the tried-and-tested “won’t somebody think of the children” approach to justifying its near-monopoly on Ontario beer sales. In the 30-second video, four-time world curling champ Glenn Howard (who apparently now runs a Beer Store outlet—and appears at first glance to be wearing a cop uniform) talks about the conglomerate’s great track record when it comes to checking IDs and not selling booze to really drunk people—the clear implication being that wresting booze control from the hands of the foreign-owned cartel would lead to lots of drunk minors and other unpleasant havoc. The ad is part of the Beer Store’s multi-pronged approach to rebutting claims made by the Ontario Convenience Stores Association, which has been lobbying hard for beer and liquor sales in corner stores
 talks about the conglomerate’s great track record when it comes to checking IDs and not selling booze to really drunk people—the clear implication being that wresting booze control from the hands of the foreign-owned cartel would lead to lots of drunk minors and other unpleasant havoc. The ad is part of the Beer Store’s multi-pronged approach to rebutting claims made by the Ontario Convenience Stores Association, which has been lobbying hard for beer and liquor sales in corner stores){kind=link}
When the Conservatives win the upcoming election, The Beer Store will be on its last legs. Their corporate bigwigs know it.
HI Glenn. Nice American accent. Where y’all from? Some notes:
The Beer Store doesn’t own the monopoly on sales filtering. Believe me, I know. I used to get drunk as a kid on beer from…you guessed it, Brewer’s Retail. So did pretty much everybody I know that got into it.
Your professional staff ain’t so professional.
The Beer Store, aka Brewer’s Retail, is indeed a private organization. But nice try.
I look forward to more of your videos. This one was really fun.
Then Rob Ford can work there when they’re forced out of Ontario.
How stupid. Lets start with these fools and then move onto the LCBO.
So why don’t we make it a public company like the LCBO and get over it?
Uh…it’s owned by companies. You can’t make it public. Give it to proper Ontario brewers in a fair placement.
Why can’t we make it public? Legislation is an amazing thing, don’ cha know?
You’re confusing items. You make the system public, but you can’t take the company public. Second, the LCBO and legislation are the ways that Brewers Retail have been structured to date. So in essence, the very means in which you have stated, have created this problem. Your solution would mean it would be a Beer Arm of the LCBO. That is basically the LCBO all over again.
Yes, that’s correct it should be the beer arm of the LCBO. Why is that wrong? It comes down to the pragmatic ideas that: (1) Alcohol is the most dangerous drug in our society. (2) I do not relish the idea of all that money in profits being protected by a 19 year old at a corner store at 11 at night instead of a state of the art security system with cameras. (pretty sure the 19 year old agrees) (3) From personal experience – going out to purchase alcohol at late hours rarely has a positive outcome. (4) If competition is an issue allow all local breweries a percentage of shelf space – by law. (5) Government control is a good thing sometimes and on such a important/dangerous product in our society, needed. (6) F@ck convenience! Convenience, choice range, pricing and the profits of companies from Walmart down to the ‘Mom and Pop’ stores don’t trump the safety and wellbeing of my community. There are some very important parts to the current system that should not be thrown out because of the Macro-brewer monopoly.
Kenn, duplicating two distribution arms of the LCBO isn’t pragmatic by any means. It’s been handed over to the large breweries as its own entity, which is privately owned. The LCBO doesn’t have the funds to take it over, nor would they want to separate something from other booze sales. That’s why it’s wrong. Try to think business as opposed to society.
2. Alcohol is far from the most dangerous drug in our society. Now you’re talking like a hippie that’s trying to get pot legislated, which is nothing but a joke. I also have no clue what that sentence means.
3. Your personal experience? You should get out more. Nobody said anything about late hours. Reasonable hours is just fine. And every bar in Toronto represents the late hours you talk about.
4. Local Ontario breweries have been denied their own distribution system. The discussion about “corner stores” is maybe 10% of the issues behind Brewers Retail and the LCBO. It’s the tip of the iceberg. Second, you can’t guarantee shelf space in a store. There are serious costs to that model. Queen’s Quay flagship store demonstrates a shrinking craft beer section. I was there yesterday.
5. Alcohol is not a dangerous product. You’re buying up the pothead strategy yet again. Have a gander at the Colorado articles and see what it’s doing to that place. It’s not all Doritos.
6. There isn’t a single model that demonstrates what you’re talking about. I don’t know where you’ve been all your life, but availability of alcohol doesn’t mean there are teenage Vikings in the streets killing people because they bought a 6-pack at a local convenience store. Also, profit = economy + tax. If you think those aren’t important, that means you’re a commune loving zero that thinks the solution to everything is to “legislate” other people’s money into your pocket. Smoke another one.
7. Macro-brewer monopoly? Maybe you missed the point that they’re foreign-owned. The monopoly by the LCBO itself means those cashflows are out of the economy and mis-guided funds from those transactions. An example is their glossy publication which is just outrageous. Second, they take a major chunk of that system, and give it away to foreign companies. Not sure what you do for a living, but legislating it to foreign companies would mean your industry would be shot as well.
As a data point, Glenn Howard is from Midland, Ontario. That aside, I agree that studies have demonstrated that convenience store staff are, on average, more diligent than Beer Store employees about checking ID.
It was a reference to the ownership of The Beer Store.
I remember Peterson ran on that promise to put beer in the corner store,, well,, he did, from the on all beer store are and were all built on corner lots. Someone please tell Hudak that promise has already been fulfilled
Dumb comment!!!
Just remember Peterson, he ran on that promise [Beer in the Corner Store] 1985
Well all beer stores built after 1985 will be and were built on corner lots. Promise upheld, now someone should tell Hudak that promise has been used up !!!
I put it there to address people like you.