Dating back to the 2008 season, when they dropped the National League Division Series to Promo Marketing’s beloved Phillies, the Milwaukee Brewers have turned in mostly solid campaigns, with this year’s 96 wins garnering them their first division title since 2011. Not only are they inspiring pride among fans of small-market baseball as they contend for a World Series berth, they are also going to make their supporters very content today, as the 12-game winning streak that they began as the regular season concluded and the playoffs began will result in a burger giveaway and a chance to own a commemorative shirt seven decades in the making.
Milwaukee has quite a diverse culinary identity, but until 6:00 p.m. today, Wisconsin’s largest city will specialize in an American staple courtesy of the George Webb Corporation’s nearly three-dozen restaurants and the business entity’s relationship with Brew City Brand. While the eateries will distribute hundreds of thousands of burgers, they and the printing company will hope end-users are also game on parting with a few bucks to buy a top when stopping by. The T-shirts make use of an old newspaper advertisement that Brew City Brand co-owner George Keppler came across as the Brewers constructed their unbeaten run, and reflects a prediction by the corporation’s eponymous founder that Milwaukee’s baseball team, then a member of the American Association, would one day run off 12 straight wins.
For the first time since '87, the @Brewers have won '12 Straight Games.' The winning streak means free burgers for the city — but that's not all! Brew City Brand (@brewcityonline) is printing exclusive merchandise to go along with this sweet deal! ⚾🍔 https://t.co/9imKl2pevq
— Kasey Chronis (@KaseyChronisTV) October 17, 2018
Fans of the team and hamburgers, however, needed to wait four decades to receive freebies, with the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers ripping off 13-straight victories to start the season. On that occasion, though, no apparel items complemented the burger bonanza, which resulted in 168,194 Milwaukee residents getting in touch with their carnivorous sides.
This time, though, Brew City Brand saw the 12-game stretch, which the Brewers pulled off with seven regular-season wins, a National League Central Division tiebreaker triumph over the Chicago Cubs, a sweep of the Colorado Rockies in the National League Division Series and a Game 1 decision over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Championship Series, as an unbeatable promotional opportunity. The output makes use of Webb’s skills as a prognosticator in a very touching way, especially since it would be such a feel-good story if the Brewers, who trail the aforementioned matchup against the Dodgers three games to two, could make it to the Fall Classic for the first time since 1982.
More importantly, from an industry standpoint, Brew City Brand is proving an opportunist in the best possible sense of the word. The Brewers, obviously, would love to play beyond tomorrow, when they host the reigning National League pennant winners at Miller Park, so the shirt, also available online, could be a good-luck charm to them when fans fill the stadium. The timeliness, therefore, is impeccable and inspirational to other small businesses and/or brands that might look to cash in on a major event, sports-related or otherwise, through promotional items.
Along with hyping the masses who want that World Series appearance for their heroes, Brew City Brand is sure to avoid controversy in doing so, as the T-shirts smartly lack any Brewers- or Major League Baseball-affiliated branding or slogans. We would have hated for a terrific occasion—running off 12-straight wins in any sport is pretty commendable—to get bogged down in legal issues.
As for the series against the Dodgers, who are making their 10th playoff appearance in the last 15 seasons, we are pulling for the Brew Crew, and we hope that any merchandise that comes about as a result of this theoretical win will be as unique as the team itself. We are pretty sure that George Webb would raise a burger to that hope.
