The Dutch and international sporting event/beer marketing controversies: will the madness never end!

Let’s hope not.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a Heineken, and I’m not really in a rush to have one now. Honestly, I’m kinda with the local Londoners on this:

London conjures images of crowded pubs, which conjure images of pints of beer, which conjure the taste of … Heineken?

Well, not really. Which is why having the Dutch brewery’s lager as the official beer for the London Olympic Games has drawn the ire of Greg Mulholland, a Liberal Democrat MP and chair of the “All Party Parliamentary Save the Pub Group,” whose meetings we simply must attend one day.

Ah, the Dutch. You know those Dutch with their beer marketing.

Mulholland recently blasted the IOC for its selection of Heineken, claiming it was an affront to the celebration of British culture that are the London Games, saying:

“Beer is the UK’s national drink…”

Brothers!

“… and the country has a strong and ancient tradition of brewing; by choosing a mass produced bland foreign lager, the committee has ignored all the wonderful, traditional beers that the UK has to offer and instead gone for the company with the biggest cheque book.

On the one hand, I completely understand the IOC’s choice. I dunno if “Liberal Democrat” means the same thing in Britain that it means here, but if so, then it’s no wonder he doesn’t understand the “biggest cheque book.” If it was me, I’d be pissed at our domestic breweries for not ponying up the money in the first place.

On the other hand, though, those Brits do know good beer. I’d rather see what’s serving in the local pub than buy a beer I can find in twenty places between my office and home.