Dark and Surprising Origins of Some of the World’s Most Iconic Brand Names

12. The American beer which borrowed its brand name

In 1876, St. Louis brewer Adolphus Busch created a new beer in his brewery. Styling it a Bohemian-style lager, Busch named the new beverage Budweiser. Over the years it came to be called the King of Beers by its brewer and their advertisers. At that time, Budweis was the Germanized name of a town in Bohemia, now located in the Czech Republic. Budweiser itself means “of Budweis”. Adolphus Busch marketed the beer aggressively, and the company still does. But there is a problem with the brand name, which is one of America’s most iconic. Since the 13^th century, a beer name Budweiser has been brewed in the Pilsen region of Bohemia, now in the Czech Republic. Adolphus Busch appropriated the name. He didn’t stop there. The Bohemian version of Budweiser was called the Beer of Kings, since the 1600s. Busch’s trespass there is self-evident.

Those who taste both beers will find they have little in common, other than the shared name. Since the breakup of Czechoslovakia and the creation of the Czech Republic, the original owner of the name Budweiser has called their beer by the Czech translation. The Budweiser Budwar, the 4^th largest brewery in the Czech Republic, and Anheuser-Busch have engaged in trademark disputes since the early 20^th century. As of 2010, Anheuser-Busch can only use the abbreviation Bud when selling its Budweiser products in the European Union. The Czech version is sold in North America, Brazil, and other nations to which it is exported as Czechvar. It is also sold under that name in the Philippines. Sales of the Czech brewery’s products have expanded steadily in the past thirty years, Budweiser’s have declined.