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Posted on 08/01/2009 11:28:45 AM PDT by Graybeard58
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama's ban on a wine that features a nude nymph on the label became a business opportunity for a California vintner who is preparing a marketing campaign to capitalize on being "Banned in Bama."
The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board recently told stores and restaurants to quit serving Cycles Gladiator wine because of the label. Board attorney Bob Martin said the stylized, art-nouveau rendition of a nude female with a flying bicycle violated Alabama rules against displaying "a person posed in an immoral or sensuous manner."
Bill Leigon, president of Hahn Family Wines in Soledad, Calif., said Thursday that visits to the company's Web site have increased tenfold since news of the ban broke late last week, and callers from across the country have been asking where they can buy the wine.
Because of the interest, he's developing store displays that say "Banned in Bama" and "Taste What They Can't Have in Alabama."
Hahn said he will never miss the 500 cases sold annually in Alabama. "There is going to be a significant increase in our sales," he predicted.
Rosanna Guardagno, a social psychologist at the University of Alabama, said a ban often increases people's interest in a product.
"The ABC Board, without realizing it, is going to boost their sales," she said.
The wine's label is copied from an 1895 French advertising poster for Cycles Gladiator bicycles. It shows a side view of a full-bodied nymph flying alongside a winged bicycle.
Martin said the ABC Board rejected the label last year, which meant the product wasn't supposed to be sold in Alabama. A citizen recently sent a bottle to the board to show it was still being sold in the state, prompting the letter to restaurants and stores to stop sales, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
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I remember buying “nude beer” ONCE
I’ve had this wine before. Quite unremarkable, irc.
I’m an AU grad...so of course it would be Auburn :)
Least favorite was Indianapolis (no offense to any Hoosiers).
Didn’t the sex toy case go all the way to the Supreme Court? I seem to recall that.
When we lived in Huntsville, there was an adult store believe it was called “Sugar and Spice” or something like that. The woman who ran it was deeply involved in the anti-sex-toy lawsuit.
It is all about creating silly issues to deflect attention away from the serious hard problems facing the state.
Well, as I recall, a large tanker truck took out an entire overpass on I-65 a couple of years ago and that created extensive damage and construction. But yes, there has been extreme construction going on 65 for some years now.
Looks like WW2 bomber Nose-art.
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