China Goes BlueThe top-selling beer in China,...

China Goes Blue

The top-selling beer in China, reports the official China News Service, is Pabst Blue Ribbon. Some 300,000 metric tons were sold there last year, amounting to 1.4% of the beer in the country, and 83% of the people surveyed in 10 Chinese cities and provinces recognized the Blue Ribbon brand name.

Actually, the high brand recognition caused Pabst’s share of the country’s beer market to fall 30% in 1995, because of a flood of locally made counterfeit Pabst.

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Another Sauerkraut Fume Tragedy

In a freak accident, a woman has drowned in a barrel of sauerkraut, a Hungarian newspaper reported March 19. The woman, identified as Julianna Farkas, was visiting relatives in Ebes, a village 100 miles east of Budapest. Police assume that the 80-year-old woman was overcome by the pungent fumes as she leaned over the barrel, which was in a shed, reported the daily newspaper Nepszabadsag. Police said the liquid in the sauerkraut barrel was 12 inches deep.

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Hi Thai

Thai Gypsum Co., one of largest manufacturers of houses in Southeast Asia, is marketing a model in Thailand it calls the Hi-Tech Thai House. It’s ultra-eco, using electricity produced by 120 solar panels and recycling water in a closed-cycle system (so no sewer hookup is needed). In place of a lawn, it features a pond where 50 tons of tilapia fish could be produced a year. Presumably, that would be to sell, unless you really, really like tilapia.

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It’s on the House

You might not know that candy companies donate their products to the White House. Each administration has its favorites: Jimmy Carter liked peanuts, Ronald Reagan liked jellybeans and the Nixons served miniature Baby Ruths in silver dishes. Traditionally, Democratic administrations serve Coca-Cola and Republicans serve Pepsi, because of the political contribution habits of the two companies.