A while back we wrote about a wine that had been banned from the Systembolaget shelves in Sweden (the monopoly retailer) because of what was judged an offensive packaging: pouting lips on the label and the name “Wacky Chicks”. Poor taste no doubt, but so bad that it should be banned?
Recently we happened to come across another wine with an interesting packaging that made us think about this story: the wine Untouched (a name that alludes to what?) that comes in a bag-in-box with a big photo of a young girl in a flimsy dress (partly see-through?) and a love story on the box in a picture series: a happy man with the girl and a refused rival.
The wine is “Untouched by Girasol rosé” imported by Primewine in Sweden. But such a packaging is evidently not sufficient to be considered to “give the impression that alcohol consumption raises the physical or mental capabilities, contributes to social or sexual success or solves problems such as loneliness or boredom”, as opposed to the pouting lips, in spite of the explicit references to love (and slightly implicit on sex), success and failure. This wine happens to be, according to the importer, the best selling rosé in Sweden.
Read more on this strange story here and compare the two packagings yourself: Sexism and equality in wine packaging
