"bottle" news and stories

Vodka seems to be is the beverage of choice when celebrities decide to dabble in distillation. Jay-Z's Armadale, Jimi Hendrix' Hendrix Electric, Roberto Cavalli's Roberto Cavalli, Donald Trump's (what else) Trump.

Now Dan Akroyd joins the party with his Crystal Head vodka, which comes in a skull-shaped glass bottle. He promotes the new libation with a video so bizarre many originally suspected that it was some sort of viral marketing for a Ghostbusters sequel. Akroyd babbles about Roswell and ectoplasm with the straightfacedness of Leonard Nimoy on In Search Of... before showing off his (admittedly very boss) bottle "in which," he explains, "we have chosen to enclose joy, in the form of of a very pure alcoholic beverage."

Akroyd also speaks of his enthusiasm for what he calls "the most challenging arena in the legal recreational consumables industry." The vodka itself is made in Newfoundland, Canada, and is "quadruple-distilled."

Champagne is a celebratory drink and, as such, it is likely to be a bit more popular around the holidays than it is at other times of the year. In Britain, champagne is more popular than it is anywhere else in the world, with the exception of France, and the number of supermarket-brand champagnes has been climbing steadily. Ordinarily, the phrase "supermarket-brand champagnes" wouldn't exactly inspire confidence if you want to buy a high-quality drink, but it turns out that some of the store brand champagnes rated much higher in a taste test than expensive brands that cost two or three times as much. UK food critic Egon Ronay took part in a blind taste test of 30 bottles at the request of the Press Association, which arranged the trial. He concluded that many different store bubblies stand up very well to the known brands, with the top four being "as good or better than some of the best." Those four include Marks & Spencer Champagne de St Gall Premier Cru Brut (£19.99); Sainsbury's Vintage 1999 Blanc de Blancs Brut, (£17.99); Sainsbury's Blanc de Noirs Brut (£13.99); and Sainsbury's Champagne Rose (£16.29).

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Despite what the bottle may look like, this isn't Duke Ellington aftershave, it's cognac. More specifically, it's a 25-year-old XO blend from the French cognac house Meukow, according to Nightclub & Bar Magazine. Bottle Watch says it's a 20-year-old XO, however. Either way, The Duke's 'gnac retails for $150 for a 750 ml. bottle. I wasn't able to come up with any tasting notes, perhaps because it's still in limited distribution. I guess this would be an item that swanky bars or jazz clubs would want to have on their shelves. I guess it's not enough to have Ellington in just your record cabinet. Bottle Watch and N & B have distributor info and pics of the packaging, which looks like it could be a CD box set.

When a well-established brand looks to reinvent themselves to appeal to a new group of consumers, usually a younger and hipper group, they automatically go for something a little offbeat. Class is not usually a consideration in this type of marketing strategy, which makes it seem like an odd choice for the new campaign for Perrier, a sparkling water that has long been associated with good taste.

In an effort to bring in younger drinkers, Perrier is trying to make its water "sexier", "flirtier", "riskier", "sassier", etc. than before. Bottles of the water will be accompanied by contortionists ("crazier") in LA nightclubs and beach umbrellas ("sunnier") in Miami. They are hoping that their $10 million marketing campaign will turn the water into a trend again.

The problem with such a campaign is that it risks the brand's long-term identity in favor of some short-term effervescence. Even if the campaign works and the water becomes a trendy item, it is only a matter of time before the trend fades out, which could leave the brand a little flatter than before.

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Heinz has a very unusual new marketing idea, offering customized labels for bottles of their products. They are not the only company to offer custom imprinting, but surely they are the only condiment company. And who would have thought that custom ketchup would be a draw in the first place?

At MyHeinz.com you can select one of five different products and add either an "everyday message" or a "custom message" to it. The everyday messages include: Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary (would only recommend this in conjunction with another anniversary gift - like a barbecue) and Get Well Soon. The custom message can be almost anything, so get creative.

Heinz suggests that the bottles are appropriate for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, family reunions and tailgating. We're still not sold on the anniversary idea, but those last two occasions actually seem like ketchup would be a perfect topper for them, not to mention the fact that a kid would be thrilled to see his or her name on ketchup put out at their birthday party.

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