USA TODAY International Edition
North Carolina brewer loses battle to put ‘ F- word’ on labels
The proposed name and label violated a regulation that prohibits alcoholic products from having any advertisement, statement, or design that “depicts the use of alcoholic beverages in a scene that is determined ... to be undignified, immodest, or in bad taste.” Past label rejections
A team of Charlotte craft brewers lost their battle to use the “F- word” on its craft seltzer labels Wednesday.
The North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission upheld a December decision barring Justin and Sarah Brigham from calling their New Year’s Eve- themed hard seltzer “F--2020 BUBS.” The panel informed their lawyer, Michael Boyer, that they would not be allowed to do that.
The proposed name and label violated a regulation that prohibits alcoholic products from having any advertisement, statement, or design that “depicts the use of alcoholic beverages in a scene that is determined by the Commission to be undignified, immodest, or in bad taste.” The decision comes despite the fact that the seltzer’s label ( shiny gold with stylized lettering) doesn’t depict or describe anyone using an alcoholic beverage, Boyer said.
The end result: On New Year’s Eve, no one was able to say sayonara to a bad year by raising a can or glass of F--2020 BUBS hard seltzer.
The Brighams believe the regulation is unfair, unclear and arbitrary, with hidden, shifting standards, Boyer said, and they want that changed. “It’s hard to play by the rules when – when one doesn’t know what the rules truly are,” Boyer added.
So the couple renewed their fight for the right to use the F--- 2020 name, Boyer said, although they no longer have plans to produce the brand. Their appeal of the alcohol commission decision was scheduled to be heard when it met Wednesday.
“Though our window of opportunity to release this project has now closed, we have chosen to continue to press this issue in an effort to further the cause of free speech and unbridled creativity at large for the craft beer industry,” the Brighams said in a statement. “While we respect the work of the ABC, we feel that their approval process needs to be fair.”
This isn’t the first time the Brighams have battled the alcohol commission over the name of one of their products, Boyer said. And it’s not the first time the commission has blocked the name or label of an adult beverage.
The alcohol commission initially rejected the name “Dime Bag” for an India pale ale that Sycamore Brewing produced, Boyer said. “Dime bag” is a term for a package with a small amount of illegal drugs.
Boyer said he persuaded the commission to allow the “Dime Bag Triple IPA” name. Federal regulators and other states had approved the label, he said, and he showed the commissioners that some terms used in the illegal drug trade also are verbiage used by brewers when discussing their craft.
In 2019, a Utah- based brewer tried to sell a beer named “Polygamy Porter” in North Carolina. The artwork on the label showed a nearly naked man with three nearly naked women, and the slogan, “Why have just one!”
The panel rejected Polygamy Porter on the basis that polygamy is illegal.
In August 2019, Wilmington television station WECT reported that the commission had rejected about 230 labels over the previous 17 years.