Posts Tagged ‘media buzz’
97 Ounces of … Obscenity(?)
It’s been a long time since any single wine label got as much press as the one above. We don’t want to rehash the Cycles Gladiator story yet one more time; it is well told here for example. Instead, we are curious about the lines dividing art, free speech and obscenity. TTB is regularly called upon to judge these matters. Today, it’s your turn to judge. Please take a peek (if you dare) and report your opinion in the poll below. A quick view of all four labels is here (this is the fastest and easiest view, for the poll).
Another view, showing the full label approval for each product, is below.
- A. Cycles Gladiator Red Wine
- B. Toogood Foreplay Red Wine
- C. Mendielle Vertu Merlot
- D. Naughty Nancy’s Nut Brown Ale
Go ahead and vote in the poll or comment or both.
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legally interesting/controversial, media buzz, policy, risqué, sexual
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Nanny State Beer
Last month, we highlighted three beers with alcohol contents above 18%. For the most part, these beers created little controversy, despite stuffing a six-pack’s worth of alcohol into a single bottle. Enter Scotland’s BrewDog, a craft brewer that drew the ire of industry watchdogs in the United Kingdom with their Tokyo* oak aged stout. Alcohol Focus Scotland called the 18.2% alc./vol. beer “irresponsible,” and a member of the Scottish Parliament even submitted a motion condemning the brewery. BrewDog responded to these UK critics with Nanny State, a 1.1% alc./vol. “mild imperial ale.” The label has this to say:
At BrewDog we appreciate your inability to know your limits – especially when it comes to alcohol – which is why we’ve created Nanny State.
This idiosyncratic little beer is a gentle smack in the right direction.
Please note: BrewDog recommends that you only drink this beer whilst wearing the necessary personal protective equipment and in a premises that has passed a full health and safety risk assessment for optimum enjoyment.
The name, absurdly low alcohol content and label combine to create a witty riff on alcohol beverage policy. And it may well be a great public relations move for a small brewer — taking a well-publicized swipe at critics with a marketable product, rather than words alone.
Although the fight over Tokyo* in the UK appears to have cooled down, the product faced resistance in the US, but for a different reason altogether. BrewDog has previously explained (on their blog, post no longer accessible) that TTB viewed the brand name as potentially misleading as to origin. And so Tokyo* became Tokio*, but without any fuss over the alcohol content.
No word yet on whether Nanny State will make it to the US, or if Miller and Anheuser-Busch will suit up for the “weakness wars” and go lower, to 0.9% or so.
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legally interesting/controversial, media buzz, policy, writing/witty/funny
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Phony Controversy Du Jour
Maybe the world is not in such a sorry state after all, if there is room for outrage about a few beers named after exits on the New Jersey Turnpike. Various media report that MADD was alarmed about Flying Fish Brewing Company’s new Exit 4 beer, named after the nearest highway exit. Google already has well over 8,000 hits for this puny controversy. MADD is apparently concerned about linking driving with drinking, or condoning the same. But even the most cursory review shows that the link here, and the impropriety, are tenuous to put it mildly.
Speaking of tenuous connections, it will be difficult for Flying Fish to find a connection between the unique aspects of 29 exits, and 29 distinctive beers. This is well evidenced by Exit 11, the second in the series; the connection is that both relate to … a confluence.
Plenty of other labels highlight a highway or exit. Side Pocket Foods has about 10 Exit 172 labels. This Weibel wine celebrates Route 66, and this Oak Ridge wine pays homage to Route 88. And here is Route 3 Chardonnay. There is no reason for MADD to be alarmed about any of them.
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legally interesting/controversial, media buzz, policy
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Fine Swine Wines
There are several pig-themed wine (and beer) labels this year. Maybe they are around every year, but we never quite noticed them until all the swine-induced hysteria. It so happens that the SWINE Festival is coming up next month, smack dab in the center of Iowa. The label says SWINE is nothing less than “Iowa’s premier pork and wine event.” No word yet on whether the flu situation is hurting or not hurting this event. Both the orange label, and the green label, are Iowa rosé made by Madison County Winery of Saint Charles, Iowa.
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“The Blind Wine Chick”
Don’t miss this story in the New York Times today. Alex Elman is a wine taster and trader in New York. She happens to be blind and this appears to hold her back from almost nothing. Alex explains:
I call myself the blind wine chick. … I’ve always had that sense of smell and taste that’s been heightened. … I’m in that glass. … I see the grapes. In my mind’s eye of course. I see the soil.
She also speaks several languages, skis, swims and so on. We’ve had the pleasure to work with Alex in her wine business and can confirm that she’s also undaunted when dealing with the government.
By the way, the New York Times is doing a great job morphing from a paper to a multimedia extravaganza, and this should not be lost amid all the gloom and doom about publishing.
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