Coors Brewing Co.

Colin @ Canada · Post by **Colin @ Canada** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 4:21 pm

Is anyone familiar with the history of this brewery? I've heard that Coors has a very dark past and given how popular Coors Light is today makes me wonder if any of it is actually true. Anyone?

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Sat Oct 20, 2007 5:50 pm

Coors is associated with some questionable "charities" in the US, and had some interesting environmental issues but I am not familiar with anything super scary.

Colin @ Canada · Post by **Colin @ Canada** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 2:24 am

So they are a squeeky clean company? I was on Google.ca and looked up Coors and a whole bunch of pages came up for Coors Boycotts all throughout the US. After reading what all of them are claiming and saying I would be pleased to join a Boycott of all Coors Products and all their affiliates including Molsons. This won't be hard as I have secretely been boycotting their products anyway.

http://www.corporations.org/coors/article.html

Bobbyok · Post by **Bobbyok** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 8:46 am

Colin @ Smokeless wrote:So they are a squeeky clean company? I was on Google.ca and looked up Coors and a whole bunch of pages came up for Coors Boycotts all throughout the US. After reading what all of them are claiming and saying I would be pleased to join a Boycott of all Coors Products and all their affiliates including Molsons. This won't be hard as I have secretely been boycotting their products anyway.

http://www.corporations.org/coors/article.html

If that website is what you're basing your decision on, you might want to do a little more research. Claiming the Heritage Foundation is right wing, I can accept, but neo-nazi? Many of their experts are Jewish and minorities. And since when are naziism and libertarianism anywhere close to related?

As for what has precipitated all the boycoot sites , I supect it's because the Coors Family are widely known to be staunch supporters of the Republican Party - Pete Coors ran unsuccessfully for the GOP in a Senate race in 2004 or 2006 and Scott Coors is rumoured to be their candidate in 2008. If that's enough for you to boycott, to each his own. I stay away from them because their beer sucks.

If you want to dig deep enough, I doubt you'll find any business that is squeaky clean.

pootz · Post by **pootz** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 9:58 am

I would avoid giving any validity to rumors of vast right wing corporate conspiracies I saw posted on the web.

Adolph Coors was the founder he has a first name that is shared with one of history's most infamous tyrants...I think a creative mind could concoct a political thriller conspiracy around that stretch of reason....but as always realities are pretty dull.

Adolph Coors Company is the only family-owned brewery in the United States that was able to survive the late 20th-century consolidation of the American beer industry without relinquishing family control. As they grew they were plagued with union politics ( as all large companies are). They sold enough beer to build the world's largest brewery at Golden Co. and they export to 30 countries from there.

It was the tight family ownership ethic which made them think the fit with Molson's was right ( they perceived it to be another family business)

Along the way I recall a Coors Child being kidnapped and a Coors brother shaken down by the IRS for inheritance taxes just as he entered the business....but no neo-nazis in the closet...sorry.

I see the Coors family still run one of America's largest charity foundations.

http://www.coorsfoundation.org/

Philip1 · Post by **Philip1** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 8:28 pm

Most corporations actually donate money to left wing 'charities' (ie. shake-down artists) from Al Sharpton-types to environmentalists. (The latter almost always support extra regulations and adding regulations usually hurts smaller competitors to big business as the big boys can absorb the costs relatively better.) Coors apparently got its bad rep initially because of its refusal to hire union labour. SABMiller has ruffled feathers by funding illegal immigrant activist groups in the US.

But no matter what your politics people here hardly need to drink any Coors products anyway - unlike Miller, which I believe, owns the delicious Pilsner Urquell. That said, at locations - ballgames, restaurants, - where there is no other choice I'd take a Coors over Budweiser, Molson, or Labatts, as it doesn't leave the same sickly sweet aftertaste of those three big brand beers - possibly because it lacks any taste at all

jesskidden · Post by **jesskidden** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:15 pm

pootz wrote: Adolph Coors Company is the only family-owned brewery in the United States that was able to survive the late 20th-century consolidation of the American beer industry without relinquishing family control.

Hmmm... while there are only about 20 or so breweries left in the US of the 600-700 that re-opened upon Repeal, off hand I can think of a number that are still family owned. Matt in Utica, NY, Yuengling and Straub in PA, Schell in MN. Tho' publicly traded, even Anheuser-Busch still has a number of Busch's in management (altho' I think the family only owns a small percentage of the stock these days).

jaymack · Post by **jaymack** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:18 pm

I read this book several months ago. Very interesting and informative..

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:44 pm

Interesting references.

I like how the one article makes sure to mention "Adolf" Coors because we know how popular that name was with the Hitler family.

Seriously, I think most all families with a little too much money, power and so on become a little loopy in the head. The Coors family sure wear it on their sleeve in their own questionable way, but many of these insane, heritably rich families are full of strange, disturbing ideas. They wear it like a bad smell.