Barq’s - the Blog with Bite! is about to lose its teeth. After more than two years blogging about Barq’s, it’s time to let the blog go.
It has been a good ride, from meeting some great people (Barq’s collectors and other bloggers), appearing in books about blogging (Blog Rules
Thanks to my readers for your comments and enthusiasm for Barq’s Root Beer.
Long live Barq’s!
To celebrate here’s a link to a recent article by Kat Bergeron, setting the record straight. Barq’s is all Biloxi… (Thanks to Joe Sumrall of Biloxi for pointing me to the article.)
History revisionists are at it again, forcing me to jump on the old, wooden Barq’s crate to shout, “Barq’s was not born in New Orleans!” Can anyone hear?
Barq’s is Biloxi’s own. Period.
Barq’s is pure Mississippi Coast. Historic threads of syrup do twine to New Orleans and Louisiana, but the creation of this magic elixir should not be attributed to any place other than the town where Edward A. Barq Sr. moved in 1897 and bought the Biloxi Artesian Bottling Works….
The Sun Herald | 03/04/2007 | Despite the myth, Barq’s belongs to Biloxi
David Singleton at Flurries of Latent Creativity has found a place that sells Barq’s in London. His latest blog entry Where to buy Root Beer in London gives us all the info.
“Imagine my delight to discover a new shop called CyberCandy in Covent Garden (map) selling cans of Barqs for £1.10. You can also buy direct from their website and they carry full-fat and diet A&W as well as Barqs. Lovely.”
This is great information! Thanks David for posting your discovery.
Very cool photo. I wish those were all mine. Bottled Barq’s needs to get wider distribution. I’m sitting in a hotel in Miami drinking a Pepsi because I can’t get no Barq’s. If only I was in Mississippi.
If Coke is reading this blog, (I have no evidence that they do) I have two suggestions for you:
1) Bottle Barq’s in more places than Lousiana and Mississippi. IBC has no problem bottling and distributing their root beer in more regions than one.
2) Give consumers a choice if they want to drink Barq’s with caffeine or without. My kids love root beer and don’t need any caffeine in their systems after a root beer float. Caffeine is NOT what gives Barq’s it’s BITE. Good marketing gave Barq’s it’s teeth years ago. Exceptional marketing could pull the teeth and gain market share.
But who am I to tell Coke how to market? They are a refined marketing machine first, a beverage company second. Why they haven’t done more with the Barq’s brand is a mystery to me. Sure, they have done a lot, but Barq’s has much more potential.
Any Barqs drinkers out there willing to share thier opinion on the availability of Barq’s or the caffeine content of Barq’s, Please do!
Robert Sherrill emailed me this photo of the Barq’s Christmas Tree. Made by a friend of his, Daniel Griffis from Slidell, LA. Robert said his friend used bottle toppers, blue lights, two types of bottle openers, and some Barq’s bottle mardi gras beads to decorate the tree.
Awesome tree Daniel. I bet it is the only Christmas tree out there with Bite! Merry Christmas!
This has to be one of the coolest things I have ever seen. If I can drink that many cans of Barq’s next year I think I’ll build a Barq’s Christmas tree.
Thanks to Ben at Church of the Customer Blog for pointing me to this link.
Coudal Partners made this video all about a can of diet Barq’s.
Moot Beer
Friday Afternoon.
A 2+ Year Old Can of Diet Barq’s.
Four Daring People.
The Adventure of a Lifetime.
You’ll have to click the link to watch it. This goes to show you can make a movie out of just about anything. My only beef is that they should have recycled…
This kid rules. Coke should hire him to do all their Barq’s commercials, well at least the ones that involve cool bike jumps….
This week, Southern Foodways Alliance is hosting the 2006 Symposium: The Gulf South – Tracing the Arc of Eats from Texas to Florida at the University of Mississippi, October 19-22:
“This event provides opportunities for cooks, chefs, food writers, and inquisitive eaters alike to come to a better understanding of Southern cuisine and Southern culture. Lectures, held in Johnson Commons, at the heart of the University of Mississippi campus, are complemented by informal lunches and dinners served in and around Oxford.”
Saturday morning will be “The Breakfast of Champions: Bottled Barq’s and Roasted Peanuts” Mmmm, Mmmmm, good.
Slippy’s Paintshop Resource - NR2k3 Driver Suits for 2004.
This is a very cool Barq’s fictional driver suit painted by Slippy. The character who wears this suit should drive this Mercedes.
While I was doing a bit of research I came across this new book called Blog Rules by Nancy Flynn. Nancy is the founder and executive director of The ePolicy Institute, an online resource for ePolicy Content, Forms, Books, Workshops, and eTraining Tools. The book is a corporate guide to blogging and includes 36 “rules” to consider while engaging in the powerful medium of communication know as the Blog…
Much to my surprise she uses my blog as an example of a brand blogger:
“Consider, for example, brand blogger Michael Marx, whose site, thebarqsman.com, is devoted entirely to Barq’s root beer. A Barq’s drinker for fifteen years, Marx refers to the brand as “my beer.” His dedicated blog, which features Marx’s affectionate musings about Barq’s, comments from fellow Barq’s fans, Barq’s commercials, and other Barq’s news, was featured in the New York Times in 2005 as part of a story on brand blogs. Barq’s received a million dollars’ worth of national publicity free—courtesy of one root beer–loving brand blogger!”
Who would have thought that my little Barq’s blog would become a textbook example of brand blogging…Not me. She uses my blog as well as blogs for other brands, such as McDonald’s, LEGO, Apple, TiVo and Harley-Davidson to illustrate Rule #33:
“It pays to put customer evangelists and brand bloggers to work creating buzz in the blogosphere.”
Chapter 19, the chapter all about putting brand bloggers to work, is available online, courtesy of AMA.
So The Boston Globe prints their findings of a root beer taste test…The contenders: Mug, Stewart’s, Barq’s, Virgil’s, A&W and IBC
The winner of our taste test, hands down, was a humble can of A&W.
I don’t mind that A&W won the taste test, I used to drink the root beer with the “frosty mug taste” years ago. What is most interesting (and not included in the article) is the number of people that actually participated in the taste test. I wrote the author and she told me only nine people participated. So while the findings are far from being statistically significant (as she readily admitted), they do reveal some of the classic characteristics of Barq’s that sets it apart from traditional root beers.
The ubiquitous Barq’s was soundly and roundly denounced as an impostor. “Root beer? Are you sure? Tastes like an odd cola, generic and cloying.” It was deemed “too flat,” “almost fruity,” and “insipid” with “not enough root-beer zing.” And the insults kept coming. “If I wanted a Coke . . .”
Before Barq’s was root beer it was just Barq’s. Its own unique flavor of the South. When Coke came in to the picture it was branded as root beer. I was introduced to Barq’s as root beer, and I loved it because of it’ stark contrast to traditional root beers, especially A&W.
So while the critics (all nine of them) scorn the unique flavor of Barq’s, those same qualities are what give Barq’s its BITE! Except that comment about being too flat. The Barq’s I know and love is not at all flat. High carbonation is just one of its distinctive features. So bring on the critics, for every one that despises Barq’s, there is at least one or more that loves the sweet fizzy nectar that often bites the timid lipped seeker of liquid refreshment. I close with four words. Drink Barq’s. It’s Good.
A reader from Biloxi named Joe sent me this photo and caption:
I took this photo a couple of years ago just before enjoying an Oyster Po-boy and Barq’s at Famous Joe’s while sitting at the oyster bar. Note the oyster shucking (opening) station just behind the bar.
Famous Joe’s was located on the eastern tip of the Biloxi peninsula prior to Hurricane Katrina. It’s gone now.
Thanks Joe for sending the photo. Did you happen to write this review of Famous Joe’s as well?
Even if Famous Joe’s is gone, the memory of the good times and good eats will live on. Does any one know if Famous Joe’s is planning to re-open?
OK. I didn’t want to have to write about this new Barq’s promotion…But I am compelled by guilt. How could I let this very cool web promotion go unblogged for nearly two months? Simple. The more people that enter the contest the less chance I have to win. (Remember I’m not affiliated with Coke, so I can enter the contest up to the limit of 4 times a day.)
At the end of the contest (September 30, 2006) there will be 20 lucky winners of an awesome Barq’s mini fridge. If I didn’t tell the world about it, less people would enter, and my chances of winning would be good. So I’ve been battling my karmic instincts to vigourously promote and my selfish desire to win one of the Barq’s mini fridges. There are also some very cool instant win prizes…but I haven’t fared to well. Nothin yet.
Here’s the scoop. Barqy the Dog is back and he is wreaking havoc on www.barqs.com. You’ve got to find him and arrest him. But first you must login with your Coke ID.
I’ve caught Barqy in performing all ten devious acts thruought the pages of barqs.com. My only gripe is that the website is a bit slow, and you have to double click practically everything to go anywhere. The new website is built in Flash, and has not been updated since the Microsoft Internet Explorer changes earlier this year. So it takes one click to activate the control and another to get where you want to go. It is time consuming. Especially when you enter the allotted four times per day…Hey, maybe that will keep people from entering…
I submit my plea to Coca-Cola: Update the Barq’s website! Here’s a link to get you started: Adobe.
So if you’ve got time and your double clicker is ready for a workout…Head over to www.barqs.com, register then go catch Barqy! Look for teh winners to be announced around October 4th.
The Barq’s can poses well for the artist. Here is another rendition of a classic can of Barq’s.
Additional drawings: A Barq’s Sketch, Barq’s Can Drawing
