Consumer vs Blue Moon class action lawsuit

I don't mean to be rude, but I get the impression that you are too worried about arguing and not terribly concerned about understanding what I'm saying.

For one, I have not suggested that it's not fair for consumers to call Blue Moon "crafty". I have argued that I think it is fair for Blue Moon to label themselves as "craft", given the fact that no one owns the word. Not legally fair, but just fair. Whether or not consumers want to agree with calling Blue Moon "craft" and adopt it themselves is entirely up to them, and one of the hurdles that MillerCoors must clear when it comes to marketing Blue Moon.

Nor have I done this:

As a matter of fact, I don't think there is anything unfair about competitors making sure to draw the connection between Blue Moon and MillerCoors, although I do think drawing that link does present a potential advantage. Quite honestly, an advantage that they *should* be utilizing. As I said in one of my previous posts--it's good marketing. There is nothing whatsoever wrong about it.

Consumers are welcome to judge Blue Moon for their MC ownership. This isn't and has never been about telling other consumers what they should find important about a product. It's about whether or not it's fair for Blue Moon to market themselves without making their connection to MC obvious. That's what the lawsuit is about. That's the genesis of this entire thread.

I'm not suggesting that the larger movement involving concern over the economic dominance of global corporations is a marketing campaign. I do believe that some businesses capitalize on the fact that some consumers have this concern as a way to market/sell their product, but the movement itself and any marketing that capitalizes on the movement are different things. I am not, nor have I ever been, talking about the movement itself.

Your personal feelings about large global corporations, while entirely valid, are not really the issue at hand here. This lawsuit and the resulting discussion are, at their core, about whether or not it's fair for Blue Moon to market itself as "craft" beer. And while I personally don't consider Blue Moon a craft beer, I think it's fair--not legally fair, just fair--for MC to brand Blue Moon as such.

 

I guess I am not sure how these two statements reconcile - if it is fair for BM to call itself craft, it seems unfair for consumers to say they are crafty. I read attribution to BM (and ST) of being crafty as implying precisely that their campaign to imply they are "craft" is deceptive. here is a definition of crafty I found online
adjective

1. 1.
   clever at achieving one's aims by indirect or deceitful methods.
   "a crafty crook faked an injury to escape from prison"
   synonyms: cunning, wily, guileful, artful, devious, sly, tricky, scheming,calculating, designing, sharp, shrewd, astute, canny; More

The pun on "craft" is clearly mean to indicate that their impression of being craft, is deceptive. And note, I believe that most peoplle calling them 'crafty' think they are going beyond simply not making the connection obvious - but let us not take this into a discussion of specific practices. Believe me, I do not want to continue this argument. But your statements leave me confused. Perhaps you read crafty to mean something different, and less deceptive, than what I take it to mean.

 

I understand the pun behind use of the word "crafty", and I understand that many consumers who use the term do so with the double meaning in mind.

But the two statements you mention are easily reconcilable in my mind. The producers and marketers of Blue Moon simply have different opinions about the product than do the consumers who use the term "crafty". As is pretty clear from our back and forth here, the idea of being "deceitful" isn't absolute. It's a spectrum. Just as an example, failure to include information on a label is a different level than including actively false information, but the argument could be made that both are deceitful on some level. Reasonable people can have differing opinions on what rises to the level of deceit. I personally wouldn't consider what Blue Moon is doing deceitful, because I think it's fair to use the term "craft" outside of the way that the Brewers Association and others choose to use it.

One thing I do find interesting: the variance between the positive and negative connotations for the synonyms listed for the term "crafty". For example, "astute" is generally considered a positive trait, whereas "devious" is more negative. And to me this gets to the heart of the matter behind the practice of marketing in general. All businesses--from your four tap brewpub to the huge corporations like MillerCoors--use marketing. It's an essential part of operating a successful business. At what point does marketing cross over from astute and sharp to devious and tricky?

I'm not sure there's a clear-cut answer, and I think it's apparent from our conversation that the answer will vary based on who you ask.

 

They market it as a craft brand but they only do variations of the Belgian Wit. This also takes money away from the real craft brewers as well since people are thinking they're supporting a craft brewery when they are just buying a brand. Lawsuit makes sense and I hope the homebrewer wins.

 

"This also takes money away from the real craft brewers as well since people are thinking they're supporting a craft brewery..."

There is no doubt in my mind that this happens.

A few years ago a friend (Fred) brought a case of Blue Moon to a summer party. He told me the story about how the beer guy sold him this case of beer. A part of the conversation:

Me: "You do know that this beer is brewed by MillerCoors, don't you?"
Fred: A look of horror

Cheers!

 

@lordofthemark You're trying to build a legal argument around a word that has no legal meaning. So, essentially you're defending an opinion, and MC [and others] can defend their opinion of what craft means just as well you can defend yours. If craft beer was ever defined by a law, gov't agency, or judge; or if an organization legally copyrighted/trademarked "craft beer" we might have a different discussion.

"Craft" in the beer world is like "small batch" in the bourbon world. For distillers, "small batch" is just a smaller batch than whatever they typically produce, but how small that is can vary widely between distillers and it has zero bearing on what the product tastes like. There's no legal definition... just like craft beer.

EDIT: sorry, I just realized you stopped talking about this 2 days ago.... I didn't mean to light the fire again.

 

Thank you. Also as I tried to make clear, I am not particularly interested in building a legal argument. IANAL and will defer to whatever the courts decide. I am more concerned with justifying, ethically, the use of certain terms by the Brewers Assocation, by certain BA members, and by certain beer aficionados who share their approach.

 

I think beer geeks are some of the most well informed consumers anywhere. We know blue moon is made by MC. The rest of the beer drinking public doesn't know and doesn't care, and probably like Coors anyway.

 

Well, they care but not enough to look it up themselves. Nope, this is America and those lazy f'ks want somebody to spoon feed them. It's beer. I've had cheap beer that I have enjoyed and expensive beer that suc'ed. If you enjoyed the beer, then how were you deceived? I swear, there are just to many stupid and lazy people and lawyers willing to enable them.

 

I didn't know it and I don't care. It won't change my habits one way or another. I have guests who love Blue Moon and I will continue to keep it around.

 

I have to ask. Why do you dislike a corporation? I can understand not enjoying their product, but why would one go to the next level and take the operations of a company you do not purchase product from personally? I just don't get that.

 

I'm sure the lawyer has the paperwork drawn up already. Sigh…..

 

It was an experience that I had at the brewery in Golden many years ago. They didn't like my jeans and long hair. They were first rate a-holes. That's why.

 

Sounds like time to forget it and move on. It takes a lot of energy to stay mad. Just sayin'.

 

I hear there's a lot of other things those cats don't like other than long hair and jeans...

 

I'm not mad, I just have a long memory.

 

And just like that, the song "Signs" popped into my head......