CAMEL
In these troubling economic times people are looking to save on costs. Due to the success of consumer groups like CAMRA, pubs which have been serving cheap cooking lager for decades are being forced to replace their best sellers with quality real ale.My observations have been that cheap lager still out sells real ale by about 10 pints to 1, and the low cost and high sales of these products in supermarkets is another testament to their popularity. This raises the question is CAMRA too powerful?
I will not raise the issue of beer and social class again, but generally it's accepted that whilst CAMRA insists that it represents the working class, it's members are on the whole middle class readers of the Daily Mail. CAMRA also has no interest in lager whatsoever, even if it is high quality lager such as Moravka. So who is going to protect the interests of the low income earners, and lager fans alike? My solution is a rival consumer group called;
CAMEL - Campaign for (Cheap) Economic Lager
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This group will lobby on behalf of Carling, Fosters and Carlsburg. It will aim to get Victoria Bitter and Tooheys New on tap in every pub in England. It will be bounded by no social class, or newspaper! Readers of The Sun and News of the World will be most welcomed, and Jeremy Clarkson has agreed to be our president.
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I think the motto will be "A man's not a CAMEL".
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This post is not intended to be serious and is purely fiction, but I guess most people could tell that.
posted by Tim at
Friday, January 23, 2009
12 Comments:
By the way, "A Man's not a Camel" is an old Australian phrase which is used when you are waiting for someone to fulfill their role in a shout. It is basically a nudger saying you are thirsty and can't last the distance without fluid like Camels can.
It is also the name of an album by punk band Frenzal Rhomb. It's not as good as their earlier work.
3 points come to mind:
1) You forgot Nuts magazine off the list of sponsors.
2) Cheap drink? VB and Tooheys on tap? Are you thinking about Shepherd's Bush Walkabout again?
3) The CAMEL equivalent of a CAMRA beer festival would probably be a fairly lively affair.
I should also add that white vans will be used to transport said cheap piss to the CAMEL beer festivals.
I don't remember ever being in Shepherds Bush Walkabout?
You may not remember it but the photos don't lie!
Camra middle class members read the Daily Mail?
I hope not/doubt it, real ale is far too sophisticated for Daily Mail readers
I am happy to ofer my services to the CAMEL cause, Tim. If it helps, I saw Fosters Lager slabs as a 'managers special' yesterday - AU$30 a slab. Can't remember the last time I saw it that cheap (the price, not the beer). And can you add Toohey's and XXXX Gold for those whose Mum's said they had to be home by 10.
Cheers
Prof. Pilsner
Paul, by the newspaper comment I was just having joke at the expense of the British class system which is a rediculous relic of ye olde England. By my observation, the UK media have clear fuedal demographics which further purpetuates the problem.
My experiences with the Daily Mail are quite slim, although it does tend to be aimed at Middle Class right wing toffs, which is the stereotype I was trying to portray for CAMRA members.
Of course CAMRA is a collective and it's members come from all social classes and political persuations. I was just trying to be funny based upon Jeff Pickhall's post from last October.
Prof Pilsner,
"Mid" strength beer or 'gold' has been excluded as basically it is an Australian marketing term and does not exist abroad.
I should also add, and I think Prof. Pilsner will agree with me that these perceived CAMRA and class stereotypes are how outsiders generally percieve the UK (speaking as an Australian of curse!)
Bit OT but I think the Daily Mail is generally considered the reactionary tabloid of choice of middle England more than anything else.
Yes Minister had it about right:
"Jim: I know exactly who reads the papers. The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country. The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country. The Times is read by people who actually do run the country. The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country. The Financial Times is read by people who own the country. The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country. The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.
Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about people who read the Sun.
Bernard: Sun readers don’t care who runs the country as long as she’s got big t*ts."
As an avid supporter of the economical consumption of alcohol, I "back" CAMEL!
After a CAMEL beer festival one would need to raise the question, one hump or 2 ?!
Tim, Yep! The impression is generally this;
How to spot Real Ale/CAMRA types
- Trainspotters in anoraks, blokes who look like Hugh Fearnley-Whatsisname in Welly-gogs, bearded soap-dodgers who mutter things to themselves and that bloke Archie from Balamory who makes things from pipe cleaners and yog-utt pots.
Is that about right?
Prof. Pilsner. Spot on!
I might wrote a further CAMEL related piece doing some beer newpaper pairings!
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