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(Courtesy Miller High Life / Molson Coors)
At issue was Miller High Life’s use of the “Champagne of Beers” slogan on the cans. And if ever there was an international incident that could dangerously escalate, this is it.
Here’s the deal…
According to CBS News “Customs officers in Belgium seized a shipment of 2,352 cans of the beer in February, after it landed in the Belgian port of Antwerp, on its way to Germany.”
The beer was seized the cans “used the protected designation of origin ‘Champagne,’ and this goes against European regulations,” Belgian customs general administrator Kristian Vanderwaeren told reporters.
The European Union has a system of protected geographical designations “created to guarantee the true origin and quality of artisanal food, wine and spirits, and to protect them from imitation.”
True Champagne comes from the Champagne wine region of France where it’s produced by specifically mandated vineyard practices using grapes source exclusively from designated places within it.
(Courtesy Miller High Life)
The reason that “sparkling wines” exist is too come up with a name for a Champagne-like product without using the word champagne.
The Comité Champagne is the organization in charge of ensuring that other regions and countries don’t call their sparkling white wines “champagne.” And I was that organization that demanded that a shipment of 2,352 cans of Miller High Life bearing the slogan “The Champagne of Beer” that was making its way to Germany be held and destroyed.
According to European law, goods can’t be imported with the word “Champagne” on its packaging, unless they specifically hail from that region in Southwest France.
Based in Milwaukee, Miller has been using the phrase “Champagne of Beers” since 1906. And what makes this case even weirder is that Miller High Life’s parent company, Molson Coors doesn’t currently export the classic beer to the EU, AP reported.
For obvious the worldwide press had a field day with news that the beer cans had been cruelly crushed…
Check out this headline from AP News…
The Champagne of Beers’ Leaves French Producers Frothing
The NY Post referred to the destruction of the 2000+ Miller High Life cans in Belgium as a “brewed awakening” while NPR acknowledged that the unfortunate incident may have been ‘impossible for the ‘guardians of Champagne’ to swallow.”
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(All image credits: Miller High Life / Molson Coors)
