It’s not the clarity, it’s the critter

If there were any concern that America was turning into a country full of wine snobs, a recent study should dispel it. According to ACNielsen (a distant, far more respectable relative of AdFreak), what Americans really like is wine with little critters on the labels. Of the 1,000 brands of wine launched in the last three years, so-called “critter brands” outsold the competition by 2.5 to 1. ACNielsen is pegging the trend to Yellow Tail, the inexpensive (or should we just go ahead and say cheap) Australian wine that seems to have taken over the happy-hour circuit. "I think it taught the industry a lesson: You don't need to get bogged down in the details of wine pretension or snootiness to be a success, if you have the right product,” says Danny Brager, vice president of ACNielsen's alcohol beverage team. The study also may have taught us another reason why Beanie Babies are successful, even among grownups who should know better.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

March 21, 2006 | Permalink