Alabama joins Michigan in censoring/banning nudity on labels for alcoholic beverages. Just what is the connection between nudity and alcohol that seemingly makes the two incompatible?
The Alabama Beverage Control Board has deemed that an art poster from 1895 is pornographic, forcing distributors to remove a wine bearing its image from stores across the state. The offending label carries a reproduction of an art poster done in 1895 by an unknown Parisian artist introducing the Cycles Gladiator bicycle. The poster depicts a nude woman with flowing red hair essentially flying through space with a bicycle.
The ABC claims the issue is that the label was not approved by the board. However, Hahn Family Wines of Napa Valley, California, producer of the wine, claims that the board did approve the label in 2006 and has been selling the wine in all 50 states and around the world without complaints. They’re dutifully pulling their product from Alabama shelves and are contemplating whether to change the label for wine sold in Alabama or not sell it in the state at all. They only sell about 500 cases a year in Alabama. As Bill Leigon, president of Hahn Family Wines, points out, “It’s still available in the other 49 states.”
The article is here.
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