Did Oskar Blues Break Kayfabe?

Kayfabe is a term in professional wrestling that means, among other things, staying in character even outside the ring to preserve their sacred art form and character. To “break kayfabe” could mean that a wrestler gives a peek behind the curtain and admits or alludes publicly to the fact that wrestling is an act. This week, Oskar Blues did something that breweries typically don’t do in the public eye on social media. The Longmont, CO brewer broke character in order to give their most loyal fans a wink and a nod, assuring that their favorite beer was coming back. Sort of…

Oskar Blues is on the growing list of breweries who have traded ownership multiple times now, first being sold to the PE firm Fireman Capital in 2015, serving as the first of an eventual collective of breweries who changed their name to Canarchy in 2017. In early 2022, Canarchy was sold to Monster Energy and rebranded as Monster Brewing.

The two most valuable pieces of IP in the acquisition were Cigar City’s Jai Alai and Oskar Blues’ Dale’s Pale Ale. The current marketing muscle appears to find more brand equity in Dale’s than they do Oskar Blues. They’ve turned about half of their offerings into Dale’s line extensions over the last year, regardless of style, including a Light Lager and a NA Pils that launched this past Summer.

I support this alignment strategy with an owned brand like Oskar Blues, which hinges on two key ideas: 1) Dale’s ability to resonate emotionally with consumers more than the brewery's name, and 2) the powerful "billboard effect" on store shelves when they each fall next to each other. While I usually prefer to keep styles consistent within a family, they’re essentially treating Dale’s like a brewery name as they’ve removed Oskar Blues from the front face of each can. I appreciate the additional cues at the top of each—like “Double Down,” “Lighten Up,” and “The Original” to reinforce each style and it’s point of differentiation. Smart.