PBR- The anti-brand?

Now that I’ve brought a couple beer brands under scrutiny, we may as well explore an additional beer brand.

Pabst Blue Ribbon (“PBR” for those in a hurry at the bar).

This brand is currently seeing tremendous sales growth and has garnered a cult-like following in the past couple years. While some think the brand is enjoying a resurgence due to the “retro” trend, others think the brand’s recently revitalized success is due, in part, to the brewer’s lack of mass-advertising and lack of any highly visible branding effort. The PBR brand has been around since 1844 has had all but been written off just a few short years ago.

What is it that new PBR drinkers find so appealing about the brand these days? Is it the quality of the beer? Is it the low price? Is it the lack of mass advertising? Could we be seeing a backlash against the tactics of the 3 big brewers?

Please comment! Let’s hear from actual PBR drinkers and loyalists to understand directly from them what they find appealing about this brand.

-Dave


PS- Interesting followup. I just had the occasion to ask Jack Trout, world renowned marketing guru and "The Father of Positioning", this very question about PBR. His answer was that PBR is seeing renewed interest due to a couple things. 1) They have a heritage/they've been around a long time and most people recognize them and 2) It has more to do with low price than anything else. He also added that Pabst is so far back in the pack (not one of the top two or three brands) that it really doesn't matter because it is hard to make any money when you are so far down on the competitive ladder.

Interesting comments that bring up another interesting question: Do any of the "also rans" in the beer industry have any shot at all of ever truly challenging Anheiser-Busch, Miller, and Coors for a leadership position? If so, how could they do it?