Carling
Carling is the name of a brand of
lager in the
United Kingdom,
Australia,
Canada and
South Africa.
Carling is the best selling beer in the UK.
In
1840 Thomas Carling began a small brewing operation in
London, Ontario selling beer to soldiers at the local military camp. When he died, his sons William and John took over, naming it the W & J Carling Brewing Co. John Carling became a prominent figure in Canadian business and politics and was later knighted in
1893. Sir John Carling died in 1911 and the company has changed hands numerous times since.
Carling O'Keefe Breweries was bought by
Elders IXL of
Australia in
1987 and later merged with
Molson to form
Molson Breweries Canada in
1989.
Carling brands are currently owned by the
Molson Coors Brewing Company. In
South Africa it is distributed by
SABMiller.
Since 2003, Carling has sponsored the Football
League Cup.
Carling sponsored
Orteig Prize contenders Capt. Terry Tully, and Lieut. James Medcalf in their plane the
Sir John Carling. They took off on
August 28,
1927 from
London, Ontario, headed for
London, England (United Kingdom), but they never returned.
From 1993 to 2001 Carling was the sponsor of the
FA Premier League, one of the top sporting leagues in the world. They also currently sponsor
Celtic Football Club, and
Rangers Football Club the two largest Scottish teams.
Carling is also known for sponsoring the
Carling Weekend music festivals which takes place at the end of August each year at two UK venues,
Leeds and
Reading.
Carling is the best selling
beer in the
United Kingdom.
Carling Black Label Ice is a very strong, low-priced ice beer sold in
Canada with an alcohol content of 6.1%, previously sold as
Molson Black Ice in the
United States.
Carling Premier a stronger version of Carling Black Label, with an alcohol content of 4.7%. In cans it is sold with a
widget.
*"Carling Extra Cold" a colder version chilled to 2ºC, was launched in 2002, and is available in British pubs.
*"C2" is the low-alcohol version of Carling.
Black Label is a brand of
beer well known throughout the former
British Empire except for the
United States, where it is best known for its slogan "Hey Mabel, Black Label!". In several countries it is also known as
Carling Black Label. However, in the UK it is now known as just 'Carling' - they dropped the 'Black Label' in 2000 in response to public demands for a snappier call at the bar (according to the company).
Around 1990, Black Label had probably one of the most successful advertising campaigns ever made in Canada. Using the phrase 'The Legend is Black' and some highly stylized black and white photography & video along with a quirky sense of humour, Black Label was instantly transformed from being an obscure old-man's beer to being the most popular beer around. The genesis of the advertising campaign came from the tendency for people on the trendy bars on Queen St. in
Toronto to drink black label because it was cheap.
Created in
Cleveland, Ohio in
1933 in the former
Peerless Automobile factory, Black Label was the
Carling Company's foray into the American market. Black Label's stated purpose was to be high quality beer at a discount rate, strategically placing
breweries around the country to ensure low costs and fresh taste. Their strategy turned them from the 20th largest brewer in the United States to the 8th largest brewer in a matter of six years.
In
Britain, Black Label began to take off and was shipped around the globe where it took up residence in
Australia,
New Zealand, and
South Africa.
After the Carling breweries in the United States stopped producing Black Label to focus on a more profitable
lager, they found their sales plummeting and re-introduced Black Label with a beautiful blonde named Mabel, portrayed by
Jeanne Goodspeed. The twenty year marketing campaign cemented the name in the popular culture of America.
In
1979, after several years of intense pressure from the larger American Brewers
Miller and
Anheuser-Busch Carling-National was bought out by the
Heileman Brewing Co. of LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Carling and the Black Label brand are currently owned by the
Molson Coors Brewing Company.
In South Africa, Black Label began to take on a different tone with the anti-
apartheid movements. Not only did it have more
alcohol than the other brands of beer in the country, but the connotation of
black to the racial issue became a point of pride to the native Africans. It is often sold with the motto, "America's Lusty, Lively Beer", perhaps in reference to Canada, though it is seldom seen in the United States.
In the United Kingdom, Carling Black Label released a series of ads showing someone doing something cool, clever or difficult, and having a bystander say "I bet he drinks Carling Black Label". Created by the WCRS agency in 1989, many of the adverts featured comedians
Mark Arden and
Stephen Frost (alias the Oblivion Boys) delivering the classic punchline. Largely because of this advertising campaign, it became the best-selling brand of beer in Britain since
1971.
In 1999 Carling achieved sales of 1 billion pints in the UK, breaking the previous record and strengthening its position as the No.1 selling lager.
*
Molson merges with Carling - CBC News: National, Broadcast Date: Jan. 18, 1989; reporter Tom Kennedy*
Falstaff Brewing -- History of Carling*
Partial essay on the History of Carling*
Museum London -- Carling*
Official Carling Lager website*
RateBeer - Molson*
RateBeer -South Africa*
British Carling television ads 
