Vaune Dillmann, a craft brewer from Weed, California, thought that he had a great marketing gimmick when
he labeled the bottle caps for his new Lemurian Lager after the name of his town. They read “Try Legal Weed”. But the Federal alcohol regulators didn’t get the humor: According to Beyondmadisonavenue.com, The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau,
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.”
I sort of doubt that last part but in any case, I feel like a bottle cap from a tiny craft brewery in Northern California (from a town called Weed no less!) really shouldn’t be high on the list of offensive marijuana references in pop culture. Then again, maybe the The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau doesn’t have anything better to do.
For more on this case, read this in depth explanation from the San Fransisco Chronicle. And keep on fighting the good fight, Mr. Dillmann!
[photo by Rich Pedroncelli / AP]
