What Does My Beer Say About Me?

The other day, I came to a realization: Dos Equis is my favorite beer.  Was this a monumental epiphany? Hardly.  But it will at least make one grocery store decision easier for me, no longer needing to wander indecisively down the beer aisle.  However, this conclusion got me thinking.  Why is Dos Equis my favorite beer? I would initially attribute my affinity for Mexican beer and tequila to growing up in the Southwest, but what if there’s more to it than that?

And so my search began.  With the help of the ever-trusty Google and a not-so-subtle search query of “what does my beer say about me,” I eventually stumbled upon this webpage, which gives general personality profiles for drinkers of certain types of beers (regrettably, Dos Equis isn’t on there, but I guess Corona is close enough).  I found that the description for Corona- and Blue Moon-drinkers (probably my second favorite beer) is a fairly accurate description of my own personality.

This led to another question, which would fall in the “Chicken or Egg” category: are my preferences shaped by the image I wish to represent (i.e. that of a Dos Equis/Blue Moon drinker), or does my inherent personality match up with the taste and personality “type” that marketers are targeting?

Reluctant to get into a discussion about social construction vs. essentialism or anything that would involve Saussure, Bakhtin, and the other wizards of semiotics, I frankly don’t care which came first.  What I do know is that we as people judge books by their covers and that, in large part, perception is reality.  Therefore, it is important that we all consider how it is we choose to represent ourselves.  Appearances do matter, especially for those of us just emerging from college and looking to enter the working world.  While those pictures of drunken college escapades on Facebook may provide entertaining fodder for you and your friends, don’t be surprised if a company you want to work for doesn’t hire you because they have concerns about your responsibility, discipline, and professionalism.  Similarly, don’t be surprised if you aren’t given a second interview at Merrill Lynch if you show up to your first interview wearing a Jack Daniels tie.  Image does matter, especially when money and competition for it are involved.

Now, I’m not advocating we all become clones of one another and completely discard our individuality.  On the contrary, we all come to conclusions about what music we like, what kind of car we want to drive, and yes, even what kind of beer we prefer.  But we also must not lose sight of the image we project based on both what we use to represent ourselves and how our preferences represent us.*

*(I think the fact that I ultimately came to this conclusion based on my beer preferences indicates that I have reached a new level of mental boredom.  I need a job.)