“KFC’s claim that its fried offerings have ‘that taste you’ll just love to eat’ is in direct violation of federal regulations,” acting FCC chairman Michael Copps said. “The word ‘eat’ is legally permissible only in reference to substances appropriate for human consumption. Any implication that a consumer could or should ‘enjoy’ a KFC Crispy Strip fails to meet these standards, and presents an unlawful deception to consumers.”
[…]
KFC advertisers are reportedly still in negotiations with authorities over whether the word “consumables”—a term that can encompass any product that must be replaced periodically, such as brake pads or swimming pool chlorine—is an allowable substitution for “food.”
The company Soyuzplodoimport seems to have won the argument against Louis Roederer’s champagne. An article in Moscow News explains the trademark dispute between Kristal Vodka and the Cristal Champagne, but it gives an interesting security story as well.
Legend has it that Tsar Alexander II, fearing traditional green champagne bottles could be used to hide an assassin’s bomb, commissioned a brand in a crystal-clear carafe.
Thus Cristal Champagne, with its distinctive flat-bottomed design, was born – though it failed to save the monarch from an explosive end. He survived four assassination attempts but was killed when his carriage was attacked on the streets of St. Petersburg in 1881.
Another fascinating tidbit in the article is that the top rated champagne in a blind taste test by Knights of the Vine was a Novy Svet 2002 Pinot Noir Rose. It costs just $16, whereas Cristal is around $600.
Trouble is brewing according to news from Spiegel Online. We may soon notice a lack of beer mats:
…the economic crisis is threatening the beer mat — and unnerving its fans. The world’s biggest beer mat company, Katz Group, has declared itself bankrupt. Tucked away in Weisenbach in the south-west of Germany, Katz Group, which was founded as a sawmill in 1716, had been in the beer mat business since 1903. Katz International Coasters controlled around two-thirds of the European market and 97 percent of the US market.
It seems they were a form of advertising that started in 1880. The decline after a hundred strong years is not exactly a bad run, and seems to coincide with the decline in other print advertising. Interesting that there was no competition in America.