[Vision2020] Five Wives Vodka found too offensive for Idaho

[Dave]

Wait a minute!  How can this be offensive to Mormons?  Mormons aren't 
supposed to drink, so they would never go into a liquor store and see 
the offensive bottle.

Dave


On 5/30/2012 5:50 AM, Tom Hansen wrote:
> Courtesy of today's (May 30, 2012) Spokesman-Review.
>
> -----------------------------------
>
>
>   Five Wives Vodka found too offensive for Idaho
>
> Polygamy Porter still on shelves
>
> SALT LAKE CITY -- Five Wives Vodka was named in bad taste and won't be 
> stocked or special ordered at stores operated by the state of Idaho, 
> regulators said.
>
> The middle-shelf vodka is made by Ogden's Own Distillery in Utah, 
> where the Mormon church is based. Its label carries the name and an 
> image of five women, an apparent reference to polygamy, a practice 
> abandoned by the church more than a century ago.
>
> Idaho State Liquor Division administrator Jeff Anderson said the brand 
> is offensive to Mormons, who make up more than a quarter of Idaho's 
> population.
>
> Regulators in Idaho notified Elite Spirits Distributor that the 
> brand's concept is "offensive to a prominent segment of our population 
> and will not be carried," according to a letter sent Thursday.
>
> "The bottom line is, we represent everybody," Anderson added Tuesday. 
> "It's masterful marketing on their part. But it doesn't play here."
>
> Anderson said state stores already make hundreds of vodka brands 
> available for sale and don't have room for another brand priced at 
> around $20 a bottle.
>
> Ogden's Own Distillery is trying to make the most of the rejection 
> with a media campaign and sale of "Free the Five Wives" T-shirts.
>
> It says the snub is unfair because a Utah beer named Polygamy Porter 
> is available in Idaho.
>
> Anderson said Idaho doesn't decide what beer brands can be sold in 
> grocery and convenience stores.
>
> "We're a little dumbfounded by it all," said Steve Conlin, a partner 
> and marketing chief for Ogden's Own Distillery. "The average person 
> can look at our bottle and they don't find it offensive. It's 
> certainly not obscene, which is what it would require for it to be 
> banned."
>
> Five Wives Vodka has been approved for sale in Utah, a state dominated 
> by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
>
> It's also available in Wyoming, another state that regulates liquor sales.
>
> Nobody in Utah is raising a fuss over the brand, said Vickie Ashby, a 
> spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. 
> Utah regulates all sales of hard liquor, wine and heavy beer, making 
> the products available only at state-owned stores. Idaho and Wyoming 
> control liquor sales with a mix of state-owned and privately operated 
> stores.
>
> "We have a product that has sold nearly 1,000 cases in six months in 
> Utah," Conlin said. "If the reaction is because of a religious 
> concern, we think they are extremely misguided."
>
> ---------------
>
> This image provided by Ogden's Own Distillery shows a bottle of Five 
> Wives Vodka.
>
>
> ---------------
>
> "Free the Five Wives" T-shirts
>
> Available from Ogdens Own Store at:
> http://www.ogdensownstore.com/product/freewives
>
> image.jpeg
>
> -----------------------------------
>
> Now, if y'all will excuse me, I believe there is a "Death By 
> Chocolate" sundae in the kitchen with my name on it.
>
> Seeya round town, Moscow.
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> "If not us, who?
> If not now, when?"
>
> - Unknown
>
>
>
>
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