In the 1960s and \u201970s, San Diego was considered the nation\u2019s premier test market for new beer brands. The population was \u201cMiddle America,\u201d and with the large concentration of military personnel, the city boasted a high per capita beer consumption rate.<\/p>\n
King Snedley\u2019s long-forgotten beer campaign in the early 1970s was either original and hilarious or disgusting and offensive, depending on whom you ask. Friedrich Nietzsche, the noted 19th-century German beer hater, stated \u201cThere are no facts, only interpretations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Depending on your interpretation, the facts surrounding Snedley\u2019s obsession with the brewing arts will either intoxicate or hasten delirium tremens.<\/p>\n
If nothing else, the King\u2019s brief reign was a spectacular, madcap flash in the pan.<\/p>\n
Once upon a time, San Diego\u2019s thirsty young male population was regaled with tales of eccentric King Snedley, a dedicated (and completely fictional) brewmaster from the realm of Hopland. For 10 long years, the sovereign toiled in a 2-by-10-foot castle antechamber to create the perfect beer.<\/p>\n His neglected second wife, the lovely Queen Luclee, spent her time entertaining in the Royal Hussar\u2019s barracks. Despite exaggerated news releases and extravagant receptions at the Royal Hopland Embassy \u2014 an impressive mansion overlooking Sunset Cliffs in Point Loma \u2014 it was common knowledge that the King would (blush) \u201crather brew \u2026 than screw.\u201d<\/p>\n Some thought that claim should have been the beer\u2019s slogan, but wiser, more mature decision-makers instead chose \u201cLook for the royal family on the can.\u201d<\/p>\n The ornate motif on the pewter-colored beer cans featured etchings of the King, the Queen and Snedley\u2019s children, Princess Fatoona and, from his first marriage, the heir to the crown, Weakling Prince Stan.<\/p>\n Poor Fatoona struggled with serious weight issues and Stan was gay. Shocking by today\u2019s standards, this was part of the sales pitch. Advertising consultant Charles Bird believed frat boys and swabbies would laugh at it. Promotional materials presented the royals as \u201can interesting, if variegated, family, to be sure.\u201d<\/p>\n Through the modern lens, such mockery would be intolerable. Humor has been known to sell beer, but the\u00a0 definition of humor has changed greatly.<\/p>\n Knowing the history of the cutthroat beer wars of the past is required to understand King Snedley\u2019s unexpected appearance.<\/p>\n Lucky Lager was introduced to California beer drinkers in 1934 by General Brewing Co. By the 1950s and \u201960s, it had become the bestselling beer on the West Coast. It was a premium lager brewed with the finest ingredients and aged in the German tradition.<\/p>\n But the turmoil of the late 1960s took a toll on the Lucky brand. It was a time of revolutionary ideas. Young people were cautioned to never trust anyone over 30. That applied as well to beer labels over 30. \u201cIt\u2019s Lucky when you live in America\u201d lacked appeal to young men facing selective service.<\/p>\n The company\u2019s new label, King Snedley, defied every marketing totem and tradition ever created by the beer industry. No trickling mountain streams or cascading waterfalls, no sky-blue lakes and rivers. The King proudly brewed his \u201cswell beer\u201d with straight tap water.<\/p>\n Chuck Buck handled publicity, event coordination and damage control for the Bird group. (Damage control would keep him very busy.)<\/p>\n \u201cWe were inspired by Mad<\/em> magazine and National Lampoon<\/em>. It was a spoof on the Augie Busch family [brewers of Budweiser],\u201d Buck said. \u201cThe campaign, in today\u2019s terms, was totally integrated \u2026 advertising, sales promotion, collateral materials, direct mail, costumes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur main target was fraternity row at San Diego State College [now San Diego State University],\u201d Buck said. \u201cSan Diego State at the time was a dry campus. No alcohol. No beer. I heard there was a beer referendum on the school ballot, so I got King Snedley to actively campaign. I remember watching as Sir Lord Dudley-Phipps and his driver, Cato, took a victory lap around the campus when beer sales in the cafeteria was voted in.\u201d<\/p>\n Promotional material announced that \u201cBeer drinking at San Diego State ranks closely behind love for Aztec gridiron achievements \u2014 and well ahead of making the dean\u2019s list.\u201d<\/p>\n Buck even was able to get the Hopland Embassy\u2019s number and address listed in the telephone book\u2019s Yellow Pages under the heading \u201cConsulates & Other Foreign Government Representatives.\u201d<\/p>\n But there were unforeseen problems when the Hopland Embassy\u2019s lease expired. Extensive damage was done to the mansion and surrounding landscape. A detailed inventory for cleaning, repairs and missing items totaled $1,832. The owner also complained about constant disturbances from \u201chippie-type and other persons\u201d asking for free beer and souvenirs.<\/p>\n When the final marketing report was published, only 2% of San Diego beer drinkers identified King Snedley as their brand of choice. That was far behind Coors (40%), Olympia (13%) and Budweiser (10%).<\/p>\n The advertising department had been given creative license and a huge budget \u2014 a flawed combination of sophomoric humor and too much of Daddy\u2019s money.<\/p>\n On Nov. 16, 1971, San Diego Evening Tribune<\/em> business writer Tom Gable wrote a sympathetic obituary for the Edsel of the beer industry.<\/p>\n \u201dKing Snedley, locally known brewer, and his royal family are dead. No services are planned, according to the survivor, Lucky Breweries. The operation was a success, as long as the advertising campaign lasted. When the media transfusion ended, the patient died.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.sandiegouniontribune.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the 1960s and \u201970s, San Diego was considered the nation\u2019s premier test market for new beer brands. The population was \u201cMiddle America,\u201d and with the large concentration of military personnel, the city boasted a high per capita beer consumption rate. King Snedley\u2019s long-forgotten beer campaign in the early 1970s was either original and hilarious […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2462900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[484453,484454],"class_list":["post-2462899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty","tag-point-loma-ob-monthly","tag-point-loma-ob-monthly-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/King-Snedleys-beer-a-royal-fop-and-marketing-flop-\u2013.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2462899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2462899"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2462899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2462901,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2462899\/revisions\/2462901"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2462900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2462899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2462899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2462899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""Look](\"https:\/\/www.sandiegouniontribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/P1030293.jpg?fit=620%2C9999px&ssl=1\")
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