Vaune Dillmann, a craft brewer from Weed, California, thought that he got a cute marketing gimmick by labeling his beer bottle caps after the name of his town ("Try Legal Weed"). But the Federal alcohol regulators didn't get the humor:
The agency responded that the message on the caps amounted to a drug reference. In a letter explaining its decision, the agency said the wording could "mislead consumers about the characteristics of the alcoholic beverage."
Dillmann scoffs at the notion that his label has anything to do with smoking pot.
"I've never tried marijuana in my life," he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "I don't advocate that. It's just our town's name."
Apparently, making fun of the town's name is somewhat of a sport with its inhabitants:
A sign posted on the way out of town reads, "Temporarily Out of Weed," while another says "100 Percent Pure Weed." Dillmann noted those examples in an appeal letter he sent to the alcohol bureau, a division of the U.S. Treasury Department.
Once, Dillmann said, his wife, a former teacher, was delayed on a field trip to San Francisco as tourists clamored to pose next to the school bus, which said "Weed High."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/04/23/financial/f145926D47.DTL - via Beyond Madison Avenue
(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli / AP)
Really?
Really?
C'mon....