Estate of Legendary Bartender Sues Exile Brewing

The estate of legendary bartender from the 50’s is suing a Des Moines, Iowa craft brewery for using her persona to advertise its bestselling beer.

And Exile Brewing has been producing Ruthie lager, with absolutely no complaints, for more than eight years…

Ruthie Fontanini (who later went by Ruthie Bisignano) was a legend in so many ways. Not only was she one of the very few, if not the only woman to own and operate her own Des Moines, Iowa bar in the 50’s, she was renowned for her ability to serve beers hands-free, balancing two pint glasses on her chest.

In spite of her pinup persona, “Ruthie was a consummate businesswoman,” according to Vice  and “charged 50 cents a pint when every other pub in town could only fetch 17 cents.” And her special serving routine understandably became legend drawing travelling salesmen and politicians alike to see Ruthie in action…

Former Des Moines Register columnist George Mills was quoted after Ruthie’s death in 1993 saying, “If someone came to watch, and didn’t buy any beer, she’d say, ‘Put something on the bar besides your elbows.’”

Ruthie is also the name Exile Brewing’s bestselling lager. They’ve been brewing it since they opened 2012 using the legend’s likeness and amusingly marketing it as “balanced.” And now they are facing a lawsuit lodged by her estate.

The suit which was filed on June 1, “alleges that Exile profited without permission from the use of Bisignano’s name, identity, persona, likeness and symbol, according to the Des Moines Register.” “It demands the estate of Frank Bisignano, her late husband, be compensated for damages and that the court require Exile to receive written permission from the family before using her name or image for its business.”

The suit further alleges that “”Exile knowingly and willfully has and continues to use (Ruthie Bisignano’s name, image and persona) and in reckless and wanton disregard of Plaintiff’s interests and rights.”

Exile Brewing’s website explains its bestselling beer which was named the official craft beer of the Iowa State Fair in 2019, as a “tribute to a real Des Moines original and the finest woman to ever serve beer in our capital city.”

But tribute, or not, things could get ugly as these litigation battles always seem too.