How Qatar Is Handling a Year’s Worth of Boozing in Four Weeks
When even alcohol advertising is illegal, how do you prepare a country for the booziest event in its history?
Specially branded beer bottles, like these prepared for the World Cup in Russia, will start to be seen in Qatar as Anheuser-Busch InBev products fill commercial kegs and appear in private residences around the country.
Photographer: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images
The King of Beers is taking over Qatar.
The signs started appearing early this year: At the Qatar Distribution Company — the only alcohol retailer in the conservative Muslim country — a massive poster with Budweiser branding featuring Lionel Messi was plastered across the entrance. Then more of Doha’s bars and restaurants started offering Budweiser on tap, a new choice in a city of Heineken draughts.