"The strategy [of provenance] is also common in the world of beer, but here it has even less grounding in reality."

Well, yes and no. It's of course easy to refute the importance of provenance by claiming that any country could produce great beers. And naturally, you won't turn into an instant Amsterdammer by drinking Amstel (it hasn't happened to me - yet).

But when it comes to beer, provenance actually does much of the difference. That is because the type and quality of the locally available water is of great importance in beer production. That different waters have an immense effect on the quality of beer is noticeable for instance when a well-known beer brand is licensed to a company in another country, and the other brew turns out very different from the original product.

So the makers behind the Amstel ads only need to focus more on the canals or otherwise Dutch water, and they would be on very safe ground. The provenance of the waters counts largely for the character of beers.