Summary: A California man is suing MillerCoors for presenting their Blue Moon as if it were a craft beer.
In today’s litigious world, names matter; that a tomato is “organic” matters, somehow, though all tomatoes are organic. So things get tricky, as they are sure to get with MillerCoors, who are facing a class action lawsuit filed by California resident Evan Parent about their product Blue Moon.
Parent claims that Miller is presenting their product, Blue Moon, which they’ve produced for 20 years, as if it were a “craft beer.”
“What this case is really about is people think they’re buying craft beer and they’re actually buying crafty marketing,” said Parent’s lawyer, Jim Treglio to KNSD-TV.
“It matters to me because I’m a craft brew fan … I take care in where I spend my money,” said Parent, who also brews his own beer. “When someone’s deceiving me into giving them my money for the wrong reasons that’s upsetting.”
There was no comment about how much Blue Moon he drank before deciding to make a lawsuit over the matter.
Nevertheless, he claims, by way of explaining what is so “crafty” and “deceitful” about MillerCoors marketing, is that they “go to great lengths to dissociate Blue Moon beer from the MillerCoors name. MillerCoors does not appear anywhere on the Blue Moon bottle,” leaving craft brew hopefuls such as Parent to haplessly lose their money.
Parent’s suit, filed in San Diego’s County Superior Court, claims Blue Moon does not qualify as a craft beer per the definition set by the Brewer’s Association, as Men’s Journal reported.
Nevertheless, Danielle Teagarden, a brewing lawyer, notes that “Craft is just what the consumer thinks it is. I wouldn’t think Boston Beer is craft; how big does a brewery have to be?”
Further, Robert Lehrman of Lehrman Beverage Law, said, “But it’s no secret here. Anyone who cares knew a long time ago,” regarding MillerCoors’ ownership of Blue Moon. “It is preposterous that the plaintiff is a craft beer aficionado and didn’t know.”
News Source: Newsmax