TRENDS, NEWS and VIEWS

“Unscrew it – let’s do it” “Virgin” wine, “Hot” beer and busy plumbers….

By editor: Late Fall, 2005

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Our quick (and unscientific) look at some of the trends and news we find interesting and relevant.

Drinking Mexican beer: From lime wedges to Chili Peppers

Just when you had gotten used to putting a lime wedge into your Mexican beer along comes a new popular way to enjoy Mexican Beer – with sweet and sour spices, chili pepper, ice and a salted rim.

	TRIVIA The term “Michelada” comes from Mexican slang for “my cold beer”

Sounds new and exotic for a beer? Exotic maybe, but not new.
Mexicans have been enjoying the “Michelada” for decades and it is finally making in roads north of the border.

Expect to see a real push for this new way to enjoy a beer as companies begin to market a pre-made mix of the “Michelada”

Introducing “Virgin Wines” – “Unscrew it, Let’s Do It” from guess who?

Richard Branson strikes again – this time teaming up with Brown-Forman to market “Virgin Wines”.

The trend away from the old school approach to wine continues with last month’s announcement that Branson was entering the wine world. “Wine, like life, is meant to be enjoyed,” said Branson, and “all the pomp and ceremony currently associated with wine just gets in the way of enjoying it.”

Virgin Vines, which feature a white Chardonnay and a red Shiraz from the California vineyards of Brown-Forman Wines are available at retailers and will soon be made available on Virgin Airways.

Don Freytag, Brown Forman’s brand director was quoted as saying that “Virgin’s brand reputation for edginess and irreverence will help tap the market.” In addition to the “Unscrew it, Let’s Do It” tag line that attitude does seem to be reflected in the packaging as well, as one of the bottles labels reads: “Dare to enjoy this wine without dashes of pretentiousness or hints of snootiness. Virgin Vines believes wine should be all about having fun and loving the taste...not waxing poetically about meaningless wine-speak and food pairings.”

Think it was busy in your neighborhood on Halloween? Here’s why….

CNN reported that in the United States “Halloween has grown by leaps and bounds as a holiday, and this year consumers were expected to generate $3.3 billion in Halloween spending, according to the National Retail Federation. Celebrations also have spread abroad to amusement parks in places without strong Halloween traditions such as Mexico and Brazil.”

Want more proof of how big Halloween has become?
Apparently it’s a plumber wish come true…..

It seems it takes a lot of guts to be a plumber around Halloween, or at least a plumber clears a lot of guts.

It seems that when people carve their pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns they often stuff the guts down their disposals. Not all disposal blades effectively chop up the stringy orange mess and the result is often a plugged sink.

Think we are making this up? From someone who ought to know -
"Pumpkin guts might be orange to everyone else, but to Roto-Rooter they're green, like money," said corporate spokesman Paul Abrams.

Seems that Halloween is not only the starting point for the busy shopping season, but also the unofficial start to the plumbing season.