Saturday, October 30, 2010

Jokey beer label in trouble



We read:
"Just in time for Halloween, there's trouble brewing for a California beer distributor that has gotten into hot water with the nation's wiccan community over an ale called Witch's Wit -- whose label depicts a woman being burned at the stake.

Witch's Wit is one of Port Brewing Company's Lost Abbey beers, which the distributor calls "inspired beers for saints and sinners alike." Each beer sports a label that aims to tell a story about the struggle between good and evil.

But Vicki Noble, a famed healer, astrologer and spiritual leader in the pagan community, saw only evil in Witch's Wit after a worker in a liquor store called the bottle to her attention last week.

Incensed at the image of a witch being burned at the stake, Noble sent an e-mail to her followers, asking in the subject line: "Can we stop this brewer from their hate imagery?"

Source

16 comments:

Stan B said...

"Can we stop this brewer from their hate imagery?"

Not unless a "Wican Boycott" is going to put a dent in their bottom line....

Don't you have a Spell for THAT?

The I-Phone would have an app for it....

Anonymous said...

If she weighs as much as a duck then she's a .......

Anonymous said...

While it may seem like a silly issue, to the Wiccan community this may be a big deal. Would there be a similar uproar if they put mages of the Auschwitz ovens on the label?

-sig

Boogyman said...

We now have to be sensitive to witches? Does that give you some idea as to just how weak and twisted we've become as a society? What's next, equal protection for ghosts?

USA = FUBAR!

Tidford Tatt said...

I congratulate the folks at Port Brewing Company for coming up with such a great marketing scheme. This little "protest" will assuredly double sales for their product. Any buzz is good buzz. But what's in it for the Wiccans, a part of the profit? Doubt the money would be enough to counter looking so idiotic. Or is the a plot by the Born Again's to make their opponents look ridiculous?

Anonymous said...

Ha, ha! This reminds me of Brewdog, a brewer in the UK who brewed "Tokyo*", at the time the strongest beer in the UK at 18%. This created a huge row over them being totally irresponsible and encouraging dangerous drinking. Their response to the row? The kept brewing "Tokyo*", quickly announced they were introducing a new weak beer called "Nanny State" (1.1 %), and went on to produce "Tactical Nuclear Penquin" (32%) and later "Sink the Bismark" (40%). In short they took precisely zero notice of (and lampooned) the PC brigade, stuck two fingers up at them, and milked the publicity. I hope Port Brewing Company will do exactly the same.

stinky said...

If she's a real witch, Ms Noble can extract her revenge in other ways, mwa ha ha ha!

Anonymous said...

25% of the world is crazy and the other 75% is totally stupid. Why not take advantage of it and make some money.

Anonymous said...

Anon 1:16, people like you need to shut up. Your making the rest of us honest, good religious people look bad by saying things like that, you have no right to say who is going to Hell. On another note, I always thought Wicca and witchcraft were two different things, that is what every Wiccan I ever knew told me.

Anonymous said...

I'll buy a few cases.

Malcolm said...

It should, of course, be pointed out that Wicca has nothing to do with the victims of the witchcraft craze. They may think it does, but they are wrong. Wicca was invented in the 19th century by Gerard Gardner, who incorporated some dodgy anthropological ideas into his new religion. It can be safely assumed that there were no witch covens in the 16th and 17th century, and only a tiny handful of those prosecuted for witchcraft actually practised anything resembling it. The Wiccans might get upset, but they can't hijack history and make the rest of us bow to their ideas.

Anonymous said...

Label approved by the GOP.

Witch = Nancy Pelosi.

The fire would be repelled by Nancy. Her looks are flame-proof!

stinky said...

the Bible says you not suffer a witch to live.

The King James version says that, but it was one of several deliberate mistranslations done for reasons of politics and social control, as well as the idiosyncrasies of James I himself..

The original Hebrew referred not to a witch, but more accurately to a poisoner (a chasaph). Poisoning was murder and, per eye for an eye, the punishment for murdering someone was death.

Religion is quite nice till govt gets hold of it, same as just about anything else.

Anonymous said...

Witches were usually hanged or drowned rather than burned at the stake. Witches were often women (or men who were correspondingly called warlocks or wizards) who practised folk remedies or superstitions which to the Church represented pagan competition which therefore they sought to eliminate by cruelly demonizing it.

Anonymous said...

Anon 3:40, you have no right to pass judgement on another religion. I am not a moron because I show respect to other religions, that makes me a tolerant person. I do not have to agree with their belief, but I am not going to attack it or belittle it.

Anonymous said...

"Can we stop this brewer from their hate imagery?"

Ummm, no. 1st Amendment.