• Ad Age, Monday, April 17, 2006 12 PM

A famous old beer brand that has fallen on hard times is trying to pick itself up and start over again. The 157-year-old Schlitz--known for decades as "the beer that made Milwaukee famous"--will introduce a retro makeover that includes an updated version of the gilded bottle that was used in the 1950s when Schlitz was the best-selling beer in the world. Beer industry watchers says the brand and its parent, San Antonio-based Pabst Brewing Co., need to do something to revive the low-priced brand because Anheuser-Busch has instituted price cuts for competing brands like Natural Light and Busch that have rendered them cheaper than Schlitz and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Market-share data suggests the situation is urgent. Pabst Brewing's total market share dropped last year, to 3.2 percent of beer shipments from 3.6 percent. Shipments fell about 24 percent since 2002, according to Beer Marketer's Insights.

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