Texans are used to being pandered to by national corporations. With its large population, the state is frequently treated like a big fat slice of American consumer pie. The classic example is Dairy Queen, the fast food chain that started in Joliet, Illinois in 1940 and currently has its headquarters in Minneapolis, MN. In the postwar years, Dairy Queens began to pop up all over the United States (including Texas, of course). In Texas, however (again, remember the pie simile), Dairy Queen has cultivated the self-image of a permanent Texan cultural fixture, something that comes to mind when Texans consider their state identity. In Texas, the Dairy Queen road sign is the "Texas Stop Sign." In Texas, when you want to explore Dairy Queen's internet presence, you can go to DQTexas.com, which bears the slogan "That's What I Like About Texas." Never mind the actual homegrown restaurants that dot the state. Let's celebrate our Texanness by visiting a national chain. Anyone barfing a little yet?
So now I discover that the marketing wizards of Pabst Brewing Company have discovered another way to fill the coffers of the Woodridge, Illinois company. The new campaign is to have Texans vote on their "national anthem." (I thought we already had one, "Texas, our Texas"....) Don't the people at Pabst think we know who we are? Don't they know how insulting this is? We're like the sexy woman at the bar, getting hit on by people out of her league every night. Get lost, Pabst!
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