The word premium is thrown around a lot these days. Often we see it in advertising taglines, which are meant to draw us in, to make us want to spend our hard earned money on a product. Webster's dictionary defines the word "premium" when used as an adjective as being "of exceptional quality or greater value than others of its kind". Logic dictates that labeling something as premium would mean that it is of superior quality, but the world of advertising and marketing is almost completely devoid of logic. After all, who would logically decide to spend their money on an item like beer that is not essential to human survival (For most people anyway. I think I would probably shrivel up and die in a world without beer)? Foster's Premium Ale is a great example of how marketing geniuses have bastardized a once perfectly acceptable adjective like "premium" and reduced it to a word of little to no value. There is nothing premium about Foster's Premium Ale. In fact, a more accurate adjective for Foster's Premium Ale would be something like disappointing, substandard, boring, bland, fetid, lazy, uninspired, cheap or simply pathetic. I've had worse beers than Foster's Premium Ale, but I can't remember a beer that used such a blatantly unappropriate adjective to describe their product. I don't necessarily blame Foster's for misusing the word premium. As I said earlier, the word premium is thrown around so often in adversting nowadays that most people simply skip over it as if it's not even there.
I think that it is time to bring some truth back to marketing and advertising. Since Foster's Premium Ale is not what I or any other beer enthusist would consider premium, I hereby nominate a new adjective to describe the taste and quality of this beer. I think Foster's Terrible Ale is a more appropriate name, and I recently sent an email to the good people at Foster's to inform them of my suggestion for the name change. No word yet from Foster's, but watch this space to check up on the official status of my suggestion (don't hold your breath).
Cheers!
Ian
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