In the article, “Red, White, and Beer,” author Dave Barry uses humorous observation and irony to show the reader how beer companies use patriotism to sell their product. He also points out how even though beer commercials target men, there is also a sense of sexism since there are no women used in the ads. The purpose of his satire is to show how silly it is for advertisers to combine the love of one’s country with the act of drinking alcohol. And he uses his comical style of writing to allow the reader to easily relate to him and the point he is making, which is that patriotism should not be confused with a group of guys hanging around drinking beer. It is evident throughout his essay, even while using humor and satire, that Barry does not approve of companies falsely uniting patriotism with their products just to make more money.
The title of Dave Barry’s essay is a pun to show how beer ads have become fully integrated with the idea of American pride; the colors red, white, and blue are already associated with patriotism since they are the colors of our country’s flag. The fact that he replaces “blue” with “brew” is enough to give you an idea of what his article is about even before reading it. He uses the phrase “retail patriotism” to describe how much the companies’ advertisements are aimed at having you believe real patriotism is shown by a bunch of sweaty men building a house or shaking hands while drinking beer. “I saw one commercial,” writes Barry, “strongly suggesting that the Statue of Liberty uses Sure brand underarm deodorant” (535). It is clear in this sentence that Barry sees quite a bit of patriotism being used on TV to sell more products other than just beer.
“If you want to talk about real patriotism, of course, you have to talk about beer commercials,” says Barry sarcastically (534). Barry goes on in the same sarcastic tone to write about how the commercials proclaim that their beer is “born and brewed in the U.S.A.,” and that there...