British Politician Fights Against Heineken As Olympic Beer

Many people are against the McDonald's sponsorship for the London Olympic Games coming up at the end of the month, but it's not just the food that's making Brits unhappy. Now, one British politician is taking on a new bill to reject Heineken as the official Olympic beer.

Reports Fox News, Greg Mulholland, the chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Save the Pub Group, is spearheading a motion in the British parliament condeming the Dutch beer. Mulholland believes the Olympic committee should have picked a beer at least brewed in the U.K. to represent the games. (Or at least a better-tasting one.) He writes on his website, "Beer is the U.K.'s national drink, and the country has a strong and ancient tradition of brewing... By choosing a mass-produced, bland foreign lager, the committee has ignored all the wonderful, traditional beers that the U.K. has to offer and instead gone for the company with the biggest [checkbook]."

Heineken isn't taking the insult lying down: the company released two separate statements, one to The Drinks Business and one to The Guardian, defending its stance as the official Olympic beer. Heineken said it was proud to have been chosen as the official beer for the games, "building on an association that goes back 20 years." It then told the Guardian that it would also sell British-brewed beers at the games: the "nation's favorite ale," John's Smith, and Strongbow cider. If anything, maybe people should protest the outrageously high prices for an Olympic beer: £4.20 for a 330-milliliter bottle.