Why would the state of Maine ban such a classy beer label? Do they hate Christmas?
By the way, Dave Puskala has told me he has a homebrew he calls “Angry Evolutionist”—that’s a label I’d like to see.
(via The Science Pundit)
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Read a bit further down the article. They want to ban
Delacroix’ painting “Liberty Leading the People” as well. Which used to be on French bank-notes, for goodness sake.
I’m afraid an average European 12 year old is more mature than some American government officials.
They dont’ want to ban the painting per se, but a replica of the painting on a beer label.
I had “Evolution” wine for Thanksgiving – it is excellent.
Cardinal Zin, one of my favorite viniferous productions of all time, can’t be sold in Ohio because it uses “religious imagery” on the label. (Which, BTW, was designed by Ralph Steadman and is freakin’ awesome.)
The state of Maine argues that the use of Santa Claus on the label constitutes an appeal to children. My daughter remembers a beer called Black Dog, which I now recall as an okay but not great ale with a lovely illustration of a Labrador Retriever on the label. Well, you know how kids are about dogs, right? There shouldn’t be a bottle of Black Dog available in the entire state of Maine after this precedent.
Maybe we shouldn’t be too hard on the government officials. They have to enforce their rules based on the lowest common denominator of busybodies complaining.
Here is a label that could be used for the xmas season.
http://cagleworld.com/viewimage.asp?ID={5784205D-1915-4B44-B1BC-BD15911C2010}
I remember hearing about this on local radio on my way out for work on Friday. I cared about as much as I usually did about local radio (I didn’t care). But now that I get more on this story, man, it’s retarded.
No they don’t.
No they don’t.
I’d have to agree. This is just another demonstration of the fact that Maine sucks. There are no jobs here, taxes are ridiculously high and everytime an economic development project comes our way we turn it down. Oh yeah, and we just re-elected the most ineffective governor our state has had in ages. I hate this state.
So Maine is trying to protect the innocence of children whose parents take them through the liquor aisle when stocking up on booze for the holidays? The kids can’t see Santa drinking, but if it’s just Mom and Dad, then it’s okay.
Good that the state’s priorities are in order.
It never ceases to amaze me when somebody decides to ban an advertisement because the character is typically aimed at children and adults alike and we shouldn’t do it because it’s for the children, boo hoo! Except.. it’s an adulterated product, so maybe the solution would be to stop letting kids have the shit.
The “Christmas” beers (solstice beers, winter brews…whatever you want to call them) are the only thing I can stand about the god damned holiday season. Nice and strong. Enough punch to get me through long days and nights of fundie relatives, irritating viral Christmas muzak, wading through the zombie shoppers and even washing down the most super dense black hole of fruitcake. I guess I’m not the only one because at the liquor store stuff was flying off the shelves. It takes a lot of booze to celebrate the magical parthenogenesis of a deity, I guess.
I picked up a bottle of Very Bad Elf mentioned in the article today. I bought the Butt beer last year when I read about the “controversy”. It’s good to know that the government has solved all our most important problems (like kids with no health care) and can now get around to other issues like kiddie-proofing beer bottles.
War on Christmas my big butt. It’s a War on Sanity.
Cheers
Louis:
Smuttynose (a fine family of beverages indeed) from neighboring NH has a an adorable seal on the label. Now I recall why I set up my own labels for my own homebrew in MA. With big block print which says “BEER”. Can’t be pandering to them children, now, can we…
Jay Brooks offers a beer reviewer’s perspective on the whole hoo haa: http://www.brookston.org/beer/the-santa-hypocrisy/
Aerik,
I agree that the “best for the children” standard is utterly ridiculous in cases like this one. But I would further add that even outside of advertisements for adulterated products, the use of the standard has gotten a bit out of control.
Michael Newdow wrote a piece about a year and a half ago, where he argued that the use of this standard in Family Court has reached such irrational heights as to be patently unfair. He certainly makes some interesting arguments.
Xeric,
I think your comment about kids not having health care really hits the mark. Our government is far, far more concerned about protecting kids from beer labels than keeping them healthy and alive. Similarly, the public is more concerned about beer lables, wars on Christmas and Michael Richards than on life and death issues like health care, civil liberties and the environment. It’s enough to make one want to pop open a bottle of Santa’s Butt and share it with the nearest available child.
Hmm… but you can buy this if you want, but it would really be nice if our kids were taught critical thinking skills in school too. Health care would be nice as well. Oh and I’d love a case or two of Santa’s Butt for the Holidays!
FAT bastard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about the wine. For the Austin Powers Character, see Fat Bastard
FAT bastard is a French wine produced and distributed by a British and French partnership [1]. A 2005 survey found that 72 percent of the adult French population finds it difficult to understand French wine labels, and the problem is not unique to that country. Research has also found that most American consumers, especially younger ones, dislike wine labels that picture chateaux, that appear elitist, and that are difficult to understand (Franson). FAT bastard appears to solve that marketing problem. The label reflects the fact that most New World (and many Old World) consumers prefer to buy “brand name” wines that are labeled by the variety of grape from which they are made (Franson).
The wine is reported to have started off as an experiment, and when Thierry Boudinaud tasted the wine he proclaimed “now that is what you call a fat bastard” [2]. The wine label says that it’s “named after a British expression describing a particularly rich and full wine” [3].
FAT bastard is a fast growing brand, recently selling over 400,000 cases per year in the United States alone, shortly after its introduction [4]. Business Week has called FAT Bastard a “marketing phenomenon” [5].
Plan Bordeaux calls for French wine labels to become more user-friendly and to label wines varietally.
Despite a few states’ resistance to selling FAT bastard in the 1990’s [6], it is now available across the U.S.
Why are they worried about whether the beer label would appeal to children? Is there a measure on the ballot to stop checking ID? Or do they really find it credible that the age group to which Santa-labeled things would appeal could get ahold of one of the bottles (unless their parents are alarmingly irresponsible) AND get it open–let alone take more than one sip without spitting it out in disgust and deciding that beer was not for them?
The strongest argument I’ve ever heard that the universe was not created by a just, or even decent, god: if it had been, stupidity would always be proportionally painful, but only to the people responsible for committing it.
I believe the same reasoning was used to abolish the Budweister frogs. (Remember them? They were neat.)
Let’s not forget that Darwinist hero Judge John E. Jones III banned Bad Frog Beer back when he was chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.
J. Mahoney:
That sounds unfortunate, though I’m not familiar with the particulars of the case…and not sure what it would mean to be a “darwinist hero,” especially in any sense to which his position on certain beer brands would be relevant.
“Santa’s Ass” is a better name… I’d bet they were pressured to change it to ‘butt’.
I almost said that “‘Santa’s Ass’ rolls off the tongue…” – or even worse- “‘Santa’s Ass’ has a sort of ring to it…”
We have a Belgian-style beer here in the Pacific Northwest that goes by the name “Fat Bastard.”
The fundies should love this:
Arrogant Bastard Ale
Am I the only one who thought it funny that the beer’s distributor is based in Belchertown?
Bob
Arrogant Bastard Ale… Now that could spice up the traditional holiday party, eh? Where can I get some?
Founders Brewing in Grand Rapids, MI makes an excellent Scotch Ale called “Dirty Bastard.” I’m concerned, though, that this beer could appeal to bastard children.
http://www.foundersbrewing.com/home.php
Re: Dirty Bastard Ale, their website has a clear (dark?) disclaimer. “This beer ?ain?t fer the wee lads?”
Not sure what’s up with their HTML but I think it’s fair to say they want to make sure it’s not to be drunk by children, legitimate or otherwise. Hmm on second thought maybe they mean it’s not for guys with small… nah, I’m sure they are just protecting the children from the evils of ale. BTW in case you’re wondering I was thinking small bladders.
My favorite, Anchor Christmas Ale.
Here is today’s vocabulary lesson, courtesy of Merriam Webster:
Main Entry: 3 : butt
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French but, bout, from Old Occitan bota, from Late Latin buttis
1 : a large cask especially for wine, beer, or water
2 : any of various units of liquid capacity; especially : a measure equal to 108 imperial gallons (491 liters)
You’ll note that the label depicts Santa sitting on his butt, by which I mean a large beer cask. What else could people have been thinking? I doubt, however, that it holds 491 liters, although Santa sure is jolly and red-cheeked (and red-nosed).
I do indeed have a pilsner named PZ Pils that is “The official beer of evil-oo-shun-ists and cephalopods everywhere.” At least that is my overblown claim. It features both cephalopods and an angry evil-oo-shun-ist. For that reason alone, I am shocked that the government hasn’t sought to ban my dangerous homebrew label. I don’t know if I dare send you a scan for it is most assuredly more dangerous than Santa’s butt.
I don’t drink beer, but I suppose these spoilsports would hate Maudite, a reasonably popular beer here in Quebec. Well, that is if they could understand the word …
It cn ct dwn yr ffln cmmrcls csts t f y gt t ckd dcnt. Fndng smn wh nt nly ds SEO bt ds th cntnt nttn nd dstrbtn fr y s wll s kywrd srch, pdtng cntnt n yr st nd blg, hvng prfssnly pblshd prss rlss t nfrr csts s rmrkd bv s wht sts mny smll bsnss prprtrs nd yt thr r sm wh try t t d t thmslvs, thy gt cnfsd s thy dnt hv th cgntn r th tchncl sklls t d t rpdly nd thy rnnc. Thnk y fr ths rtcl! I’v jst dtctd crtnly pn nws blg bt Sk t!