Carling Black Label is a lager distributed by Carling Brewing Company. History Although its original focus was on ale, Carling has brewed lager-style beers since the 1870s. In 1927, as part of a corporate re-branding under new president J. Innes Carling, the company renamed its Black & White Lager Black Label. Three years later, Carling was purchased by Toronto business tycoon E. P. Taylor, who merged it into his Canadian Breweries Limited (CBL), which grew to be the world's largest brewing company. Under Taylor, Black Label was promoted as CBL's flagship brand and went on to become the first beer to be brewed on a mass international scale, becoming particularly popular in Commonwealth countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Canada In response to a shift in popular taste away from ale, Carling added a three-storey lager plant to their main London, Ontario, brewery in 1877. Carling's Lager (later renamed Carling's Bavarian Stock Lager, and then Carling's Imperial Club Lager) was the company's first lager. Carling's Black & White Lager was introduced in the 1920s and later renamed Black Label Lager, in contrast to their Red Cap Ale. Around 1990, Black Label had an advertising campaign in Canada which used the phrase "The Legend is Black". United States After the repeal of prohibition in 1933, the Peerless Motor Car Company, looking for a way to diversify in the car market of the Great Depression, purchased the American rights to Carling's formulas, identifying labels and trademarks. Technicians and brewmasters were sent from Canada to convert a Peerless plant in Cleveland, Ohio, into the Brewing Corporation of America. They first tried just brewing Carling's Red Cap Ale, but sales were too slow to maintain the brewery, and didn't climb until the introduction of Black Label lager. The philosophy behind Black Label was to have a high quality lager that was available nationwide, but with a locally brewed budget price. The strategy worked, and the next several decades led to rapid growth and expansion for the brewery and the Carling Black Label brand. Carling Black Label was available to GIs in Vietnam, but still in steel cans, which were sometimes rusted when the troops got it there, and served warm. When Carling stopped producing Black Label to focus on a more profitable lager, they found their sales plummeting. Carling re-introduced Black Label with a beautiful blonde named Mabel,