Maker's Mark to reduce alcohol content

[Just Passin' By]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

And one would think that those loyal customers that are subjecting you to such backlash would at least...I dunno...try it before flipping their shit.

Why would tasting it be necessary? Again, you've spent years pimping your product based upon its formula, and then you changed the formula.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

And I see no way that Maker's doesn't make a 'premium' version that they do raise the price on so that folks that insist they can take the difference will have a way to spend more money on stuff that tastes the same.

It's just an odd rush to judgment with so many people already writing Makers off altogether without even seeing what they're going to produce.

It's not a rush to judgment at all. It's leaving a brand that's no longer exactly that brand, and a company that cannot be trusted. Again, Coca Cola learned this. New Coke tested better with people than old Coke in blind tests, but people refused to accept it. Don't blame the people. Blame the company for pissing on customer loyalty to the product itself after the company has tried to build up precisely that. A company can sometimes get away with the "new, improved taste" type of move with lesser known products, but even that tends to fail.

This sort of move isn't a guaranteed failure, but it carries a high risk. For me, as someone who's not a devout drinker of the product, I now know how they are willing to treat their customers, so there's no reason for me to patronize that company when there are so many alternatives.