Beer Is Officially on the Decline in America. No One Saw the Real Culprit Coming.

"Hulk Hogan had four months to live, and he had had enough at the ShopRite. The grocery store in Montgomery, New York, was full of fans of the Hulkster, 200 or so. They had been waiting for a rare chance to come face-to-face with their hero, score a signature, a selfie, maybe even a hug. Some of them had sat around for hours in the frigid fluorescent aisles of the supermarket, between towers of chips and freezer-burned meats, for the opportunity."

"Hogan was flogging Real American Beer, his new trademark swill, in singles and sixes and crates, sporting his signature handlebar mustache and durag. His black T-shirt read, "America First, Beer Second." He had launched the brand directly in response to the Bud Light boycott, to capitalize on one of the most successful-and overblown-corporate backlashes in recent history. But in the middle of the event, despite all the people waiting, Hogan decided he was done."

"The residents of Montgomery and neighboring towns were gonna be furious, it turns out. One woman started barking at the Hulk, hurling epithets, screaming, cursing. A child began to cry, then another, then another. "It was really quick. They just stood up, the whole group, and bolted," Robert Taylor, 42, told local station News 12. Real American Beer was haunted from the beginning."

Hulk Hogan promoted Real American Beer in supermarket appearances that drew hundreds of fans but repeatedly abandoned events, leaving crowds angry and disappointed. The beer launch was framed as a response to the Bud Light boycott and carried overt political messaging, including Hogan's "America First, Beer Second" T-shirt. Local officials sometimes endorsed the events, even proclaiming "Hogan Day," while Hogan often appeared uninterested and selective about signing items. Scenes of abrupt departures and upset attendees recurred across Hudson Valley towns. Fans yelled, children cried, and some witnesses said Hogan refused to sign anything that wasn't a case of Real American.

Read at Slate Magazine