The American beer that tells you “It’s Miller time!” has a problem in Europe with its other slogan, the one that calls it “The Champagne of Beers.”
The slogan resulted in Belgian customs authorities intercepting and destroying nearly 2,400 cans of the brew after a complaint by France’s CIVC, the Comite Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne, an association that represents growers and bottlers of the famed French bubbly.
The use of the name or description ‘Champagne’ is protected under European law by a ‘protected designation of origin’ and can only be applied to wines produced a specific way in a specific area.
CIVC’s statement asserted that “goods that infringe a protected designation of origin… are counterfeit,” and subject to seizure. The German importer the cans were headed for “did not contest the decision.”
They might, instead, revert to a late 1960s ad campaign in Latin America that called Miller’s “La Rubita” (The Blonde). I guess Latin America wasn’t big on champagne so instead they’d see me on the sides of Puerto Rican buses and in the TV commercials.
You’ve lead an interesting life PortMoresby. If you have any photos of those ads, I’m sure we’d all love to see them.