Budweiser Will Have A New Name -- 'America'

Budweiser, "The King of Beers," is about to give a nod to democracy.

The beer company has used the stars and stripes or the Statue of Liberty in its marketing is its past, but starting later this month it's taking things to the next level, Budweiser announced in a press release.

The beer will henceforth be known as "America," with the moniker being featured prominently on its cans and packaging, along with patriotic phrases like "E Pluribus Unum" and "indivisible since 1776."

The name change (ad campaign? publicity stunt?) will being May 23 and last through the presidential election in November.

Because what goes better with exercising your civic duty and voting than a nice cold one?

"Budweiser has always strived to embody America in a bottle, and we're honored to salute this great nation where our beer has been passionately brewed for the past 140 years," Ricardo Marques, vice president of Budweiser, said in a statement.

Budweiser's parent company SABMiller, you may recall, was bought in November by Belgium-based AB InBev for $107 billion.

Beer and America have gone hand-in-hand for as long as anyone can remember, but no beer company has ever taken the radical next of re-naming (even temporarily) their entire brand after the U.S. of A.

To save us from yet another shameless attempt at viral marketing, George Washington should have registered the trademark when he had the chance.

Image via Anheuser-Busch