February is a great month for miscellany, so I thought that I'd devote this edition of World of Beer to a round-up of items that have recently caught my interest, in hopes that perhaps they'll also catch yours. So here it goes:
Maybe It's Because of the Bestiality Aspect - "Sex sells" is a cornerstone of advertising, right? Apparently not in Britain, even when it's done tongue in cheek. The London-based brewery Young's has run afoul of the national Advertising Standards Authority for its ad showing the brewery's well-known symbol, the ram, in a variety of unusual circumstances. In particular, the agency took exception to a billboard in which a man with the head of a ram was placed in a glamorous outdoor pool setting, surrounded by all the aspects of the stereotypical "beautiful life," including a pair of female bathing beauties, and tagged with the line "It's a Ram's World."
Now, granted, excessive T&A in beer ads, as practiced by many of the major multinationals, is offensive and demeaning to women. That's a given. But didn't anyone at the Standards Authority notice that this isn't one of those kind of ads, or that it is, in fact, an apparent parody of those ads? A prime example of overcompensation, if you ask me, and an insult to a very fine family brewery.
More Sex - Kudos to Magic Hat Brewing of Vermont for adding a section to their website promoting great and safe sex. There's even a cute animated pop-up of how to properly use "magic hats." Find it at www.magichat.net.
Online and Underage - Speaking of brewery websites, no matter how often I encounter them, I'm endlessly amused at the age verifications that almost inevitably precede the splash page. Does anyone ever enter their correct age into these things? And does anyone think for a moment that one would stop a teenager from having a peek at the pages beyond?
Good Taste Starts Young - January's email brought an interesting message from a professed 22-year-old beer lover named Adam, who writes that he has "been trying different beers since I was little because my parents believed that responsible drinking started at a young age." His fave brews? Young's Double Chocolate Stout, Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout and Sam Adams Black Lager, among others. Think this guy goes binge drinking on suitcases of cheap lager? Me neither. Says quite a bit for teaching respect and understanding of alcohol at an early age, don't you think?
Stunning Stupidity - Did you hear the one about the Scottish city that voted to ban glass from its pubs and clubs? No, this isn't a joke, it's Glasgow in 2006. I'm still reeling from this one, details on which may be found here.
Not What They Had in Mind, No Doubt - My good friend Hop Caen, writing in the current issue of The Celebrator, notes the creation of a low-alcohol German beer named Karla, which is reputed to bring "calmness and equilibrium." It may interest the brewers to know that, in my part of the world, the name Karla has a different association, one that is decidedly not calming. It's the notorious name of the female who, with her husband, was convicted of some of the most brutal sexual deviancy and murders Ontario has ever seen.
Only Eleven More Years Until We're Legal - In scrolling through past issues of World of Beer, I discovered to my surprise that this coming September will mark the tenth year of its online publication. I'm not certain how to celebrate this auspicious occasion, but I'm open to suggestions.
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