Several months ago, I posted a
blog about a small California brewery owner, Vaune Dillmann, that was threatened by the governemt because he created and used a bottle cap that read: "Try Legal Weed". The government had an issue with that bottle cap because it was "consider[ed] to be a drug reference, and [found] it to be false and misleading to the consumer in terms of what may or may not be in the properties contained with that product."
The entire reason Mr. Dillmann used this reference on his beer caps is because he lives in Weed, California. You get it now? It's a pun!
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (ATTT) didn't see it that way and threatened to shut down Mr. Dillmann's brewery if he didn't discontinue his bottle cap.
Silly, right?
But today I am pleased to learn that ATTT's
threats have been averted, and Mr. Dillmann is free to continue using his bottle cap. It's nice to see that bastions of free speech still occur on bottle caps.
The letter coming from the governement found that "on the context of the entire label, we agree that the phrase in question refers to the brand name of the product and does not mislead consumers."
Hooray! Common sense has prevailed (the battle has been won, but it will take much more effort to win the war).
Hopefully, Mr. Dillmann can use all this publicity about this absurdity to his advantage.
Posted by Evan G.