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Ralph Steadman Ale Art is banned in North Carolina
Ralph Steadman created label art for Flying dog craft beer for three decades and have determined what is acceptable for the public to see on those labels.
The latest example is the label Freezin’ Season Winter Ale, which North Carolina regulators deemed inappropriate and rejected.
North Carolina liquor regulators have banned Flying Dog Brewery from selling one of their beers in the state due to the label’s alleged “bad taste”.
The offending label — like all Flying Dog beers — contains a distinctive cartoon image by illustrator Ralph Steadman, whose work with the Maryland-based brewery originated in the land of gonzo near Aspen, Colorado.
It’s not clear exactly what state regulators are opposed to — although the naked human figure on the beer label has a small appendage between its legs. Caruso said he suspects that the “tail-like thing” is what caused the ban.
This isn’t the first time the Flying Dog and Ralph Steadman brands have faced resistance.
From an Associated Press story:
In 2018, a trade organization in the United Kingdom published a report saying that the Flying Dog’s Easy IPA could encourage excessive drinking and asked stores not to carry it, The Baltimore Sun reported. . The point is that the artwork on the can shows a pig-like figure standing upright with one foot on the ground and the other in the air, while the pig’s arms are spread out to the sides.
The Portman Group said the illustration “looks like someone balancing along a line to show sobriety,” which it said could be seen as encouraging drunkenness, the newspaper reported. .
and
A federal appeals court ruled in favor of Flying Dog in 2015 regarding a ban on the sale of its Raging Bitch beer in the state of Michigan, news agencies reported. The dispute began in 2009 when a board of directors determined the label was “harmful to the health, safety, or welfare of the public.” The label features a female dog with prominent features, bared teeth and a bloody tongue.
A related story…
Cartoons are becoming the beer industry’s best new sales tool
Creating cartoons for beer brands is a time-tested advertising tactic. In the 1950s, Piels Beer ran a popular advertising campaign starring the animated antics of fictional owners Bert and Harry Piel. In the same decade, Hamm’s Beer of Minnesota advertised its lagging sellers with an animated bear. Now, to recruit young drinkers accustomed to superheroes and superheroes flying across the big and small screens, the breweries are redirecting the Marvel universe and bringing the comic book world into the breweries. .
The animated cartoon approach can boost sales.
SevenFifty Daily profile seven breweries that works
Commemorate comics and superheroes on their beer labels.
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