Beermongers

Have you seen the ad?

Under-aged kids, buying alcohol in a convenience store where the hapless clerk happily takes their money and tells them to have a good night.

Here's the ad.

The Beer Store, a multinational corporation that is owned by Molson-Coors, Sleeman, and Anheuser-Busch InBev, is reacting to the proposal by the
Ontario Convenience Stores Association to sell alcohol, by running such ads and setting up a Web site that provides the "facts" about letting other businesses do what they've been doing for decades.

Ontario Beer Facts maintains that if control is taken away from them, sales to minors will skyrocket. Because, as we all know, only The Beer Store will check ID.

(When I was a minor, I bought beer through my local beer store.)

It's plain to see that the real reason behind these scare tactics is that The Beer Store wants to maintain its monopoly on beer sales. It doesn't want to share the pie.

Most other provinces (and many American states) allow the sale of beer and wine at corner stores, and we don't hear of widespread abuse. A little friendly competition often brings savings to the consumers, too.

I'm calling for a boycott of The Beer Store. I haven't shopped in one in about 10 years. I get my quality craft beer from the LCBO. In fact, many of the great beers that I've reviewed over the years aren't even available at The Beer Store.

Who's with me?