Posts Tagged ‘current events’
Plenty of COLAs
We like to think of the COLA database as a microcosm for the US economy. This got us wondering whether the economic meltdown has tamped down the number of labels submitted to and approved by TTB.
In blue, above, is the S&P 500 Index from late 2004 through February 23, 2009. It shows the meltdown, from roughly the beginning of 2008 through February 23, 2009; a drop of 712 points or about 48%.
In red are the number of TTB labels approved, during the December through January (2 month) period each year. We picked this 2-month time period because it best allows a comparison to the ugly last month of 2008 and first month of 2009. The red line shows no falloff in the number of labels approved each period, with 14,151 labels approved during the most recently completed two month period (and 11,041 approved during the comparable period from 12/1/2004-1/31/2005). It’s nice to see a graph that’s not headed south, and this should bode well for variety at the store, and many interesting labels to showcase here in the near future.
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George Washington’s Tavern Porter
TTB does not usually allow presidents to be shown on alcohol beverage labels, so we were suprised to see George Washington (above) and Thomas Jefferson emblazoned upon these beers. The normal rationale is that it could misleadingly imply that the president endorsed the product. Here, the porter neck label says “Crafted following General Washington’s original recipe.” We see very few Obama beers so far, and we wonder how many TTB should allow — if any. What presidential beers do you think the government should allow?
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current events, famous, legally interesting/controversial, policy, political
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Ale to the Chief, Inaugural Brew
Avery Brewing is more than ready for the new president. Way back in March, this Boulder, Colorado brewer got approval for Ale to the Chief!, a Presidential Ale. Blast Magazine says it’s selling well, and in 32 states. The script on the label says:
Ale to the Chief!
A Presidential Pale Ale to celebrate
Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009
We the Brewers of Avery Brewing Company, in order to form a more perfect ale, require new leadership that can liberate us from our quagmires in foreign lands; embrace environmentally sound energy alternatives to imported oil; heal our ailing health care system; free us from tyrannical debt and resurrect the collapsing dollar.
We hereby pledge to provide him or her with an ample amount of our Presidential Pale Ale to support in the struggle for the aforementioned goals!
Hail to the New Chief!
A brew worthy of the Oval Office!
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current events, history, political, speech, writing/witty/funny
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Lipstick on a Pi……..not Grigio
Remember when Nixon said “You won’t have Nixon to kick around any more”? Well, we bet Plata Wine Partners is bummed that Sarah Palin is not around at the moment. They jumped on the news and came out with half a dozen “Lipstick on a Pig” labels in September of 2008. They were so enthused about the prospects here, that they claimed trademark rights to this name. Plata certainly moved quickly; President-Elect Obama referred to lipstick on a pig (without pointing to or naming any person) on September 9, 2008, and Plata filed with TTB nine days later. Governor Sarah Palin may have opened the door to some of this ridicule with her famous or infamous joke about hockey moms and lipstick. But we hasten to note that Plata’s actual label does not make any direct visual or textual reference to Palin, and we further note that she looks better in lipstick than we do. The label does say: “The origin of ‘Lipstick on a Pig’ is a mystery. But it has captivated the public’s attention like few other phrases in recent history.”
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current events, famous, political, would you drink it?, writing/witty/funny
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Recovery Red Wine
Don’t we all need some of this, right now?
A few weeks ago we showed several Recession Red approvals. In another dismal sign of the times, the Recession-themed wines apparently hit a lot of nerves. Recession Red is selling well, and our Recession post got more traffic than any other topic to date, by five times or more.
The Recovery Red wine (above), is produced and bottled by Ross Valley Winery of San Anselmo, California.
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