Controversial new label from Mikkeller: Mexas Ranger

kinda Funny,Sad and True...

 

Nice use of colors and artwork. A mole beer of sorts? Hmm yo quiero beber mikkeller!

 

Why people allow inanimate objects, such as labels, offend them is beyond me. They are not direct and personal attacks. A label does not call your mother names or kick your dog. Is this label any worse than the stereotypes that you hear in the form of jokes on a sitcom on any given night of the week? It is fine to think a label is tasteless, but it seems short sighted to get worked up over labels when there are definitely more important things in the world to get worked up over.

 

Is it me or does it seem they're crossing INTO Mexico?

Also: Black Beans? No quiero.

 

I heard they were going to sell this at Taco Bell, make a run for the border.

 

If you look closely, you'll see that the figures are actually crossing the border from piss-colored America into vibrantly multi-hued Mexico, presumably in search of exciting flavors like almond milk and avocado leaves.

Anyone who takes things like this seriously enough to get offended needs to relax and have a beer.

 

Beat me to it.

 

Exactly. Don't like the label, don't buy the beer.

 

I have driven the Texas boarder a few times and it looks nothing like that image

 

While I am not personally offended by this label, the fact that a label is an "inanimate object" does not make it less offensive than an "animate object." Inanimate objects such as these were still brought into the world by humans and have intention behind them. Additionally, I think that people who find specific labels offensive would find the sitcom stereotypes you mention offensive but do not discuss them here as this is a beer forum.

 

i put nuts into mole but not usually almond milk, and the black beans are odd.

 

as is the addition of chili- NOT chiles, but chili. Hmmm. Does he use the alternative spelling of the pepper, or is he adding some Five Alarm Chili to the beer?

 

Exactly. In fact it's reality. They have official signs like this all over San Diego but instead of the woman dragging a chili, she's dragging a child.

 

I see your point and will raise another. The only things that can offend you are the things that you allow to offend you. My point about an inanimate object is particular to the inanimate object in question and beer labels as a whole. How many beer labels have been created as a direct attack on any of us? I think it is safe to say few if any. Allowing such an inanimate object to allow you to become offended is silly to me, I just don't get it.

 

Want to post South Park clip.

 

With the new forums I have the problem that I zoom my phone to just read the replies before I scroll left to see who authored it.
I hit like before I even knew it was you Kevin, but upon finding out it was you, I'm not at all surprised.
Well said!

 

My wife is Mexican and I showed her this last night. She didn't mention anything about the artwork but when she read it will be brewed with black beans and avocado leaves she made a gag noise.

 

Maybe its all semantics but finding something tasteless and being offended by it are two very different things. I think many of us have watched roasts on Comedy Central. Nearly every single joke made is purposely tasteless and often that is why they are funny. In that instance I can find something tasteless and hilarious at the same time. Being offended is moving beyond simply finding something tasteless into allowing it to actually affect you in some way, shape or form.

 

first off, this label isn't offensive (i spent a few seconds trying to figure out why it's supposed to be, and then concluded it's b/c people who don't understand "offensive" think we who get offended are offended by the mere mention of race or gender or something).

but you ask why people get offended by labels, then say they're no worse than raunchy sitcom jokes. but they're both worth getting offended over! public media (commercials, beer labels, sitcoms, etc) is part of our culture. i don't want a racist, sexist, homophobic culture.

frankly, i'm surprised someone as reasonable as you would hold such a thoughtless opinion as "why would an inanimate object offend you?" it's not that the object hurts your feelings, it's that you see implications of condoning racism/sexism/etc in various forms of media.

 

Beer looks gross, i like the label, almost like i'm on an acid trip.

 

Let's say a modern-day brewery located in South Carolina released a beer called "The Good Ol' Days" with a label that depicted slaves picking cotton. Yes, for all intents and purposes it's not a "direct attack on any of us" but do you know why? Because BAs—not unlike the Oscar voters, as we've just found out!—are ≈ 90% straight white men. Which, is a pretty comfortable thing to be. (I was gonna make a joke, but then realized that I was simply lifting from a Louis C.K. bit…)

 

considering it's mikkeller, what is inside the bottle is bound to be more offensive than the label.

 

Whatever, if its spicy ill try it.

 

Gah, I hate when I agree with Levitation, I really do.

 

I like it

Probably won't be worth a damn though.

 

This is pretty close to the response I would have posted. Labels, pictures, and words are not neutral inanimate objects, they are expressions that someone came up with, and they often use symbols that draw on a common consciousness and suggest specific ideas. That's why a beer label bearing the image of a swastika, for example, would be considered "offensive" by some or most people. It's not the image itself; it's what it represents. Is that such a difficult concept to grasp?

 

I appreciate this post and respect what you have to say. What you have to say is right, I just happen to look at this situation from another prospective. I think often times offensive statements are made to draw a reaction. They want people to be offended, once people react it empowers those whose goal is to offend. It is my choice to not given them that power or the reaction they desire. By not being offended does not mean I support or condone the action, it simply means I do not allow it to affect me.

My entire comments were based on the prospective of previous beer label discussions that have happened in the past. It seems that some wind up irrationally upset, almost if they themselves have been personally attacked. Maybe my comments are on the complete opposite side of the spectrum as a reaction to that but for the most part this is how I feel. I will certainly agree racist/sexist/etc implications made that should not exist but on the flip side society has become a bit too ultra sensitive.

 

The new "being offended" is taking offense to someone else being offended.

Even if we don't understand the reasoning behind someone finding this label in poor taste, I don't think it's too much to ask to grant them their right to feel the way they do. Particularly since things like this, though they are often construed this way, are about more than differing senses of humor.

edited to add: This discussion has been thoughtful, more than most. I'm ruminating on what usually tends to happen when "controversy" arises.

 

you should roundhouse kick them.

 

I've struggled a bit with this concept in areas not related to beer. Yes, you're denying someone power by refusing to react to something that is (or could be viewed as) offensive; but your silence could also be construed as consent or condonation (Qui tacet consentire).

It's up to each of us where we draw the line personally, I don't think anyone should be in the position of telling me what "should" offend me. So I also agree w/ you that political correctness often goes overboard. I don't find this label offensive but I'm also not going to tell someone else that they're wrong if they do.

 

didn't see that, i think my mind just assumed chilies

 

I think one key there would be to look at where those "discussions" originated.

But to the meat of the subject- to take the stance that "inanimate objects shouldn't be considered offensive" is pretty much untenable. A slippery slope- but by that logic, things like swastikas wouldn't be offensive, as they are just inanimate symbols. I know, I know, slippery slope- but in this case, valid I'd say. Imagery can easily be offensive. Simple being designed to provoke a reaction, and succeeding in doing so, doesn't exempt something from offense.

This specific beer label in question... eh, not especially offensive, though it obviously is making light of a touchy situation (likely-illegal immigration), so who's to say.

The beer itself... from Mikkeller... I'm with backfat.

 

Maybe meat is the next frontier in adjuncts? Right Brain Brewing did that pork beer...

 

Too true!!!

 

Id say the label is rather tasteless and further perpetuating stereotypes and racism, which is part of what led to ridiculous profiling laws in Arizona.
To say people should not get riled up over simple art work is a bit easy, usually and idea posited by those in the majority and not facing discrimination. Do you think a swastika is equally unoffensive? It is, after all, just an inanimate object... I personally, along with millions of other people, am/would be offended by seeing such a symbol.
Otherizing the minority through speech, propaganda, cartoons etc... is what has led to some of the worlds most heinous crimes against humanity.
If you were the one being attacked I suspect you would be singing a different tune.