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 ...
“My Cousin” wine, however, will continue to be sold in Alabama stores.
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I think Alabama might be the most puritan state in the U.S.
GASP! The horror!
I’m in ‘Bama. I don’t see anything wrong with that particular depiction of the ‘human form’, myself. Actually, I’ve seen a lot WORSE that has been considered ‘art’.
I was born and raised in Alabama...this is pretty typical of how the state’s priorities are so out of whack.
I’ve seen this wine bottle at the store and never really even noticed the nymph is naked. Who cares.
In the meantime, Birmingham has turned into a thug-filled crime den too dangerous to visit during most hours. A good chunk of the politicians are under federal indictment and/or are in jail. Jefferson County is broke. The economy is in the tank.
But, hey, let’s focus our efforts on a random $12 bottle of wine.
I recently moved to Huntsville and have no complaints. I’ve been all over this country and Alabama is about like everywhere else. If anything I worry about losing regional variation. I actually find this thing with banning bottles with the nude figure kind of quaint and charming.
I love Huntsville! We actually just moved from there a couple years ago (against my wishes - had to leave for husband’s job). It’s my second-favorite place I’ve ever lived. It is nothing like Birmingham, Montgomery or Mobile. Much more tame! Do you work for the arsenal?
Alabama........
Well, we now know where their priorities lie.
I sure do work for the arsenal. You mention that Huntsville was your second favorite place to live — what was your first?
I was in flight school at Fort Rucker AL in 1971. The post was surrounded by dry counties; local cops liked to nail Army personnel living off post for bringing home adult beverages they had bought at the Class Six store. They literally lurked outside the main gate.
That summer the Alabama legislature passed a law stating that general fund monies resulting from liquor taxes collected in wet counties, would henceforth be for the benefit of wet counties only.
Any update on this?
Anyway, that has to be among the most innocent depictions of the naked female form. Only “September Morn” could be as harmless. So what’s so wrong with the beauty of the female body?
I totally agree with you. It’s no different than the US congress devoting its time to discussing the BCS or the steroids issues. When you can’t deal with the important or controversial issues, create an issue. Does anyone actually believe that any of these politicians are offended by the naked nymph? This is nothing but a bunch of horse manure.
All this started with 79 year old chairman of the ABC board, Emory Folmar, who as mayor of Montgomery once raided an adult clothing store wearing full police garb, and arresting the old lady running the store. He also defended the cities ban on sex toys on a talk radio show, telling a woman caller to sit on a clothers dryer if she wanted a vibrator. His polical views are to the right of Adolf Hitler, and managed to escape scandal dispite a long term affair with another woman.
All this started with 79 year old chairman of the ABC board, Emory Folmar, who as mayor of Montgomery once raided an adult clothing store wearing full police garb, and arresting the old lady running the store. He also defended the cities ban on sex toys on a talk radio show, telling a woman caller to sit on a clothers dryer if she wanted a vibrator. His polical views are to the right of Adolf Hitler, and managed to escape scandal dispite a long term affair with another woman.
All this started with 79 year old chairman of the ABC board, Emory Folmar, who as mayor of Montgomery once raided an adult clothing store wearing full police garb, and arresting the old lady running the store. He also defended the cities ban on sex toys on a talk radio show, telling a woman caller to sit on a clothers dryer if she wanted a vibrator. His polical views are to the right of Adolf Hitler, and managed to escape scandal dispite a long term affair with another woman.
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