Chip Taylor

Picking the fly sh*t out of the pepper

I don't drink beer any more, so I've only barely been aware of the spat going on between Anheuser-Busch and Miller. Anheuser-Busch has been making a big deal of the fact that Miller has been purchased by South African Breweries. An article in the New York Times had this little tid bit I found flabbergasting:

At a hearing May 28 in the federal court in Wisconsin, Judge Lynn Adelman ordered Anheuser-Busch to stop the ads describing Miller as "owned by South African Breweries" but said ads calling Miller "South African owned" and saying it was "purchased by South African Breweries" were acceptable. A court date for the hearing on the remaining Miller legal action has not been set.

So, to recap:

"owned by South African Breweries" -- bad

"purchased by South African Breweries" -- ok

"South African owned" -- ok

No wonder people make fun of lawyers.