12 ms·

How We Created a Fake Vodka Brand to Promote Our Startup

140 points by kevinbracken 13y ago

makerops 13y ago
Isn't this a federal felony? I am not positive, but as a former bar owner, it is for sure a federal felony to mislabel booze; I am not sure about how things play out, if you are not selling it. Edit: Not to pile on, but as someone who has poured a shit load of money, sweat and blood into a bar in the past, if I read something like this, I would stay as far away from you as possible as I wouldn't want to open myself up to the liabilities your company is sure to cause an establishment.
- kevinbracken 13y ago
  Our company is a little different these days. We had a team change and pivoted to a more professional customer segment (and from events to venues.) I thought this would be an entertaining story to share with HN from a scrappier time, though :)
  - makerops 13y ago
    Not really an excuse in my opinion, no good can come from posting something like this. Granted we all make dumb mistakes at some point, but very few are felonious, and even fewer try to use it as a marketing avenue.
    - legitsource 13y ago
      Generally, if you are going to commit a felony, don't do it in public. If you get away with it (at least for the time being), you don't bring it up again, and you sure don't post it to social media sites.
  - anigbrowl 13y ago
    Yeah, I don't want to do business with someone who is indifferent to their legal responsibilities. I've run raves and stuff like that without a permit, but I was on site at all times to supervise what was going on (along with partners), and we bent over backwards to make sure we were providing a safe environment. What you did was really irresponsible. by your own admission, you rebottled the cheapest vodka you could find. What if you had unknowingly handled a contaminated batch, and someone was injured as a result of consuming it? How would they go about tracing it back to the source? An unlikely event, to be sure, but alcohol is heavily regulated precisely because there are so many incentives for bad actors to pull a fast one on the public.
joshdance 13y ago
Cool branding and way to hustle. Reminds me of PG essay Do Things That Don't Scale - http://paulgraham.com/ds.html http://paulgraham.com/ds.html
- kevinbracken 13y ago
  We were definitely pretty inspired by the Airbnb Obama-O's story
zhamilton89 13y ago
Interesting idea, great hustle, scary to repackage food in non-food facilities. You check the laws for repackaging alcohol? I'm wondering if your friendly local ATF agents will be paying a visit soon. Something to keep in mind...
- IgorPartola 13y ago
  > scary to repackage food in non-food facilities. Scary to repackage it for getting sued by everyone involved, but to be honest, not much can contaminate Vodka.
  - arkades 13y ago
    Especially the cheapest vodka they could find.
    - Zimahl 13y ago
      A little off-topic but in blind taste tests (I'll have to find the link) people weren't able to tell the difference between top and bottom shelf vodkas.
      - Breefield 13y ago
        Pepsi challenge anyone?
      - rthomas6 13y ago
        I'd be very interested in that, because I would put money on me being able to tell the difference. Maybe not all top and bottom shelf vodkas, but I bet I can tell the difference between a vodka I like and a vodka I don't like. (For instance Grey Goose vs. Smirnoff)
        corin_ 13y ago
        If, every time you've ever drunk vodka, the liquids had been swapped between the bottles (or if Grey Goose was cheaper than Smirnoff and everyone always went on about how bad Grey Goose is, and how great Smirnoff is) would you perhaps prefer the Smirnoff taste, and still be able to tell the difference? Certainly anyone who can't tell the difference between vodkas hasn't drunk much vodka (obviously some may be very similar to each other). I suspect the testing grandparent is thinking of would show that price does not correlate with quality, not that they are all equally good. I'm not a vodka expert (my taste sounds similar to yours, in that I prefer GG over Smirnoff, and a couple of others, but I don't drink it often), but I'm pretty big on wine and whisky, both of which it's very much the case that price doesn't always correlate to quality.
gabemart 13y ago
If I were this company, I would seriously consider taking this article down and not mentioning it in public again. I think it's fairly likely that this conduct it quite seriously illegal. I hope you guys don't get into any trouble.
- kevinbracken 13y ago
  Speaking of which, we are seeking a new lawyer for our startup, preferably based in New York. Please get in touch!
  - barylen 13y ago
    Seek a new marketing team. You are insane.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
    - jasondenizac 13y ago
      "You are insane" sounds like a great compliment to a marketer.
      - Zimahl 13y ago
        At a minimum it might make a good defense in federal court.
      - anigbrowl 13y ago
        Which is why you can't trust people who work in marketing. They're professionally dishonest.
        bennyg 13y ago
        All people who work in marketing are dishonest. You literally can't trust any of them. Edit: I guess sarcasm should be mentioned.
columbo 13y ago
Like everyone else has mentioned this is a very dangerous move. The label doesn't look like it includes all of the required information ( http://www.ttb.gov/pdf/brochures/p51902.pdf http://www.ttb.gov/pdf/brochures/p51902.pdf ). This could be bad, very bad, if something like this happens ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-16742167 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-16742167 ) who is responsible?
- TwiztidK 13y ago
  To make it worse, all alcohol labels have to be approved prior to use. The post makes no mention of whether they actually submitted their label for approval, but it may not have been approved within their time frame. If it weren't approved, every venue their vodka was served at could face penalties, such as having their liquor license suspended or revoked.
  - makerops 13y ago
    Don't forget possible jail time for the owner.
  - kevinbracken 13y ago
    It is worth mentioning, the recipients were all house parties and loft parties, which was our specialty for our previous product - find and discover secret events.
    - kvcrawford 13y ago
      As a fellow "Kevin," developer, and purveyor of underground parties, my hat's off to you guys! I signed up for the beta, and I'm looking forward to checking it out. What do you think of listing events in search of a location?
      - kevinbracken 13y ago
        Thanks, what's up fellow Kevin! That is a really awesome idea actually - will stew over it
brvs 13y ago
"My Younger Brother Thinks I'm Cool Because I Gave Him A Bag of Oregano with "WEED" Written on it. Here's How."
bdcs 13y ago
> We sterilized them in the dishwasher and were ready to go. Why, pray tell, must you sterilize a container before you put an ethanol solution into it? ;)
- kevinbracken 13y ago
  Easiest way to get the sticky labels off!
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
josephjrobison 13y ago
This is pretty dumb. You're taking the "move fast and break things" playful mantra to the real world with real regulations and real dangers. It's cute that you're playing it off like "ohh we need a lawyer, help us" but seriously this is stupid from all angles.
refurb 13y ago
Wow, so many problems with this. As others have mentioned your label likely doesn't conform to federal standards. Also, you can't just give away alcohol from what I understand, there are permits and procedures that need to be followed. The fact you "manufactured" alcohol without a permit is a huge one as well. Even though you were only relabelling, I'm sure there is some tax you have to pay. You don't want to mess with the ATF. They are notorious for bringing down the hammer. Let's hope they don't go to their trust method of "Always Think Forfeiture"
- pdx 13y ago
  There are indeed laws relating to proper labeling of food and alcohol that you sell. They're not selling it. There are indeed laws that prohibit people who manufacture alcohol from also being the ones who sell it to consumers. They're not selling it. You can label things any damn way you want to label them, if you're not selling them. If you want to go home tonight and print out a label that says "Vinegar", and paste it on your Vodka bottle, I promise you won't be breaking any laws. If you then give that Vodka to your friend, you're still not breaking any laws, provided your friend is an adult. The level of hysterical paranoia by other posters in this thread is confusing.
  - Breefield 13y ago
    I agree, there are so many responses in this thread that make me feel like the blog post didn't adequately convey that the vodka was being given away—and not being resold by anyone at any point. It was a gift to event hosts who were throwing private events.
    - testing12341234 13y ago
      It wasn't being given away. It was being bartered/traded. "in exchange for hosting a party on Speakeasy for our launch weekend"
  - gotrecruit 13y ago
    i think the fact that they're using it in a commercial manner, even if they're not strictly selling it, would at least raise some eyebrows at the ATF. imagine if someone dies from the vodka. who's liable for it?
virtuz 13y ago
Sounds like an interesting move. Two things, though: - One, like others have pointed out: legality. Watch yourself. - If that doesn't worry you, I'd be wary of publicising this because you could lose loyalty from customers that put this vodka in place of premium vodka. You said it was the cheapest vodka you could get in NY. If their customers heard about this it wouldn't bode well.
jsumrall 13y ago
Bottling Permit: http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSEAF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAWS+&QUERYDATA=$$ABC96-A$$@TXABC096-A+&LIST=LAW http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSEAF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAW...
tegansnyder 13y ago
What if this was a fake story up about how they created a fake product to promote there startup and sell it as a real story to drive traffic to their startup? Either way a dangerous idea.
jasondenizac 13y ago
The amount of knee-jerking on this thread is why we can't have nice things.
- bowlofpetunias 13y ago
  This kind of juvenile behavior is not a "nice thing". At least not in the context of running a business.
  - jasondenizac 13y ago
    I actually think this promotion was extremely on-brand for what this startup is (or was) doing. I can't speak to the regulatory compliance angle, but the fact is that this was clever, effective, and well-placed customer contact. It's not the risk profile that I would personally look for, but it is a little sad to see so many on HN rushing to condemn it. We can't have nice things when people who claim to be "disruptive" are actually busy pursuing safe, risk-averse targets.
    - kevinbracken 13y ago
      Indeed. Our market back then was quasi-legal loft parties and house parties, so this was idea was definitely to fit the mood of the "modern speakeasy." Thanks!
    - ihateloggingin 13y ago
      I don't really care about ATF regulations, but there is no moral high ground here. This was just plagiarism. These people pretended to have done something that they did not do. They took credit for someone else's work. So "we can't have nice things" here means "we can't plagiarize vodka"? Well you can't plagiarize Steven King either. Deal with it.
      - bluefinity 13y ago
        So, if I buy 1000 pens, and have my company name printed on them, I'm plagiarizing someone else's work? That's nonsense. Cheap vodka is a commodity, not an art form.
pallandt 13y ago
You sure have a lot of trust in 'sometimes as little as $9 for half a gallon' vodka that you planned to serve to other people.It shows how young you are, and not in a good light. Unfortunately while this move might've been regarded as a success for your company, it could've very well damaged your personal brand.
- mkessy 13y ago
  > It could've very well damaged your personal brand. But it didn't. They are smart guys. They'll learn that what they didn't probably wasn't advisable and they probably won't do it again, but they got away with it. They have a great story to tell and more users of their service. I new exactly what the response to this story was going to be before even reading the comments. HN just loves to knee jerk and tell people how wrong they are. It's a bit sad really.
callmeed 13y ago
You should've ran that vodka through a Brita or DIY filter http://gizmodo.com/5901746/vodka-alchemy-how-to-change-cheap-clear-hooch-from-terrible-to-tolerable http://gizmodo.com/5901746/vodka-alchemy-how-to-change-cheap...
- Macsenour 13y ago
  That's what I said! It would have improved it!
MichaelGG 13y ago
BTW, it doesn't seem like your site works if Faceblock is blocked (like say, via Ghostery or something).
- Breefield 13y ago
  Hey Michael, Yes—our require.js dependency chain relies on Facebook connect loading. So Ghostery is breaking things. I'll consider how I'm going to fix this. I suppose the most obvious solution is not making it a dependency.
  - jasondenizac 13y ago
    Check out https://github.com/mozilla/SocialShare https://github.com/mozilla/SocialShare and Persona :)
yetanotherjosh 13y ago
At best this is ethical grey area territory. It's disturbing, all and the more disturbing that there are people cheering it on. I hope I don't end up at a party where the consumables have been manually swapped out by clever (desperate?) marketing people. Sorry, I'm just not rock and roll enough to appreciate deceit when it comes to things we eat and drink.
deleted_account 13y ago
"The video was viewed 500 times, almost entirely by people in Las Vegas according to the analytics. It was a huge hit, and we thought we left a pretty good impression. (Except with the department of health, hah!)" http://imgur.com/QV4EYpx http://imgur.com/QV4EYpx lolwut. I wonder how many people are submitting this blog post to ATFtips@atf.gov just for the lulz.
matthuggins 13y ago
Sorry this is totally off-topic, but I love the background music for the video. Can you share whose remix that is?
gallerytungsten 13y ago
As many others have pointed out, this stunt is almost certainly illegal. In addition to the obvious violations of Federal law, state and local laws were probably violated as well. This is not a matter of "failing to comply with regulations." This is a matter of operating a Distilled Spirits Plant without a license. Regarding labels, all labels are subject to approval by the TTB. (Not ATF. TTB, or more fully, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, was split off from what is now ATFE, in the Homeland Security re-organization of 2003.) Simply to submit a label for approval, you must have a Federal Basic Permit, along with various other federal approvals. Even if you're simply a "rectifier" (someone who blends and bottles, with no distilling) you need state and local permits as well. Labels generally have to be registered on the state level as well. This varies by state, but usually involves submitting your COLA (TTB certificate of label approval) to the relevant state agency and paying a fee. There are also standards of fill and alcohol content, although that's kind of irrelevant, as the operation was illegal from the get-go. As others note, the labels themselves probably weren't compliant with applicable law, (CFR 27) although again, that's also beside the point. For those curious, download the TTB's "Beverage Alcohol Manual, Volume 2, Distilled Spirits." It explains all the requirements. There's a learning curve. Even if you follow all the rules, your label may get sent back for revisions. I have yet to get one through on the first try. Even if you give spirits away, some states have laws regarding advance notification of the state alcohol authority. You might also need to have bartenders with "responsible vendor" certification pouring the drinks. Of course, you have to be licensed to submit this notification, although some jurisdictions allow for unlicensed parties to obtain "special event" permits. In summary, OP most likely broke a bunch of laws. On the bright side, they will probably get away with it, as the TTB is overworked and probably won't bother with something this penny-ante. A more likely danger is the state alcohol agency. My advice? Don't pull this kind of stunt again. If you really must, work with a licensed DSP (distilled spirits plant). Source: I'm a distiller.
- bhickey 13y ago
  On what scale do you distill? I don't see mention of it on your gallery page. A few years back I'd looked into importing spirits from central Asia only to conclude that it was much too capital intensive: overland transport, hazardous cargo shipping, import duties, a bonded warehouse, not to mention the risk of local labor unrest and temperance organizations.

140 points by kevinbracken 13y ago

Isn't this a federal felony? I am not positive, but as a former bar owner, it is for sure a federal felony to mislabel booze; I am not sure about how things play out, if you are not selling it. Edit: Not to pile on, but as someone who has poured a shit load of money, sweat and blood into a bar in the past, if I read something like this, I would stay as far away from you as possible as I wouldn't want to open myself up to the liabilities your company is sure to cause an establishment.

kevinbracken 13y ago
Our company is a little different these days. We had a team change and pivoted to a more professional customer segment (and from events to venues.) I thought this would be an entertaining story to share with HN from a scrappier time, though :)
- makerops 13y ago
  Not really an excuse in my opinion, no good can come from posting something like this. Granted we all make dumb mistakes at some point, but very few are felonious, and even fewer try to use it as a marketing avenue.
  - legitsource 13y ago
    Generally, if you are going to commit a felony, don't do it in public. If you get away with it (at least for the time being), you don't bring it up again, and you sure don't post it to social media sites.
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  Yeah, I don't want to do business with someone who is indifferent to their legal responsibilities. I've run raves and stuff like that without a permit, but I was on site at all times to supervise what was going on (along with partners), and we bent over backwards to make sure we were providing a safe environment. What you did was really irresponsible. by your own admission, you rebottled the cheapest vodka you could find. What if you had unknowingly handled a contaminated batch, and someone was injured as a result of consuming it? How would they go about tracing it back to the source? An unlikely event, to be sure, but alcohol is heavily regulated precisely because there are so many incentives for bad actors to pull a fast one on the public.

joshdance 13y ago

Cool branding and way to hustle. Reminds me of PG essay Do Things That Don't Scale - http://paulgraham.com/ds.html http://paulgraham.com/ds.html

kevinbracken 13y ago
We were definitely pretty inspired by the Airbnb Obama-O's story

zhamilton89 13y ago

Interesting idea, great hustle, scary to repackage food in non-food facilities. You check the laws for repackaging alcohol? I'm wondering if your friendly local ATF agents will be paying a visit soon. Something to keep in mind...

IgorPartola 13y ago
> scary to repackage food in non-food facilities. Scary to repackage it for getting sued by everyone involved, but to be honest, not much can contaminate Vodka.
- arkades 13y ago
  Especially the cheapest vodka they could find.
  - Zimahl 13y ago
    A little off-topic but in blind taste tests (I'll have to find the link) people weren't able to tell the difference between top and bottom shelf vodkas.
    - Breefield 13y ago
      Pepsi challenge anyone?
    - rthomas6 13y ago
      I'd be very interested in that, because I would put money on me being able to tell the difference. Maybe not all top and bottom shelf vodkas, but I bet I can tell the difference between a vodka I like and a vodka I don't like. (For instance Grey Goose vs. Smirnoff)
      - corin_ 13y ago
        If, every time you've ever drunk vodka, the liquids had been swapped between the bottles (or if Grey Goose was cheaper than Smirnoff and everyone always went on about how bad Grey Goose is, and how great Smirnoff is) would you perhaps prefer the Smirnoff taste, and still be able to tell the difference? Certainly anyone who can't tell the difference between vodkas hasn't drunk much vodka (obviously some may be very similar to each other). I suspect the testing grandparent is thinking of would show that price does not correlate with quality, not that they are all equally good. I'm not a vodka expert (my taste sounds similar to yours, in that I prefer GG over Smirnoff, and a couple of others, but I don't drink it often), but I'm pretty big on wine and whisky, both of which it's very much the case that price doesn't always correlate to quality.

gabemart 13y ago

If I were this company, I would seriously consider taking this article down and not mentioning it in public again. I think it's fairly likely that this conduct it quite seriously illegal. I hope you guys don't get into any trouble.

kevinbracken 13y ago
Speaking of which, we are seeking a new lawyer for our startup, preferably based in New York. Please get in touch!
- barylen 13y ago
  Seek a new marketing team. You are insane.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - jasondenizac 13y ago
    "You are insane" sounds like a great compliment to a marketer.
    - Zimahl 13y ago
      At a minimum it might make a good defense in federal court.
    - anigbrowl 13y ago
      Which is why you can't trust people who work in marketing. They're professionally dishonest.
      - bennyg 13y ago
        All people who work in marketing are dishonest. You literally can't trust any of them. Edit: I guess sarcasm should be mentioned.

columbo 13y ago

Like everyone else has mentioned this is a very dangerous move. The label doesn't look like it includes all of the required information ( http://www.ttb.gov/pdf/brochures/p51902.pdf http://www.ttb.gov/pdf/brochures/p51902.pdf ). This could be bad, very bad, if something like this happens ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-16742167 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-16742167 ) who is responsible?

TwiztidK 13y ago
To make it worse, all alcohol labels have to be approved prior to use. The post makes no mention of whether they actually submitted their label for approval, but it may not have been approved within their time frame. If it weren't approved, every venue their vodka was served at could face penalties, such as having their liquor license suspended or revoked.
- makerops 13y ago
  Don't forget possible jail time for the owner.
- kevinbracken 13y ago
  It is worth mentioning, the recipients were all house parties and loft parties, which was our specialty for our previous product - find and discover secret events.
  - kvcrawford 13y ago
    As a fellow "Kevin," developer, and purveyor of underground parties, my hat's off to you guys! I signed up for the beta, and I'm looking forward to checking it out. What do you think of listing events in search of a location?
    - kevinbracken 13y ago
      Thanks, what's up fellow Kevin! That is a really awesome idea actually - will stew over it

brvs 13y ago

"My Younger Brother Thinks I'm Cool Because I Gave Him A Bag of Oregano with "WEED" Written on it. Here's How."

bdcs 13y ago

> We sterilized them in the dishwasher and were ready to go. Why, pray tell, must you sterilize a container before you put an ethanol solution into it? ;)

kevinbracken 13y ago
Easiest way to get the sticky labels off!
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

josephjrobison 13y ago

This is pretty dumb. You're taking the "move fast and break things" playful mantra to the real world with real regulations and real dangers. It's cute that you're playing it off like "ohh we need a lawyer, help us" but seriously this is stupid from all angles.

refurb 13y ago

Wow, so many problems with this. As others have mentioned your label likely doesn't conform to federal standards. Also, you can't just give away alcohol from what I understand, there are permits and procedures that need to be followed. The fact you "manufactured" alcohol without a permit is a huge one as well. Even though you were only relabelling, I'm sure there is some tax you have to pay. You don't want to mess with the ATF. They are notorious for bringing down the hammer. Let's hope they don't go to their trust method of "Always Think Forfeiture"

pdx 13y ago
There are indeed laws relating to proper labeling of food and alcohol that you sell. They're not selling it. There are indeed laws that prohibit people who manufacture alcohol from also being the ones who sell it to consumers. They're not selling it. You can label things any damn way you want to label them, if you're not selling them. If you want to go home tonight and print out a label that says "Vinegar", and paste it on your Vodka bottle, I promise you won't be breaking any laws. If you then give that Vodka to your friend, you're still not breaking any laws, provided your friend is an adult. The level of hysterical paranoia by other posters in this thread is confusing.
- Breefield 13y ago
  I agree, there are so many responses in this thread that make me feel like the blog post didn't adequately convey that the vodka was being given away—and not being resold by anyone at any point. It was a gift to event hosts who were throwing private events.
  - testing12341234 13y ago
    It wasn't being given away. It was being bartered/traded. "in exchange for hosting a party on Speakeasy for our launch weekend"
- gotrecruit 13y ago
  i think the fact that they're using it in a commercial manner, even if they're not strictly selling it, would at least raise some eyebrows at the ATF. imagine if someone dies from the vodka. who's liable for it?

virtuz 13y ago

Sounds like an interesting move. Two things, though: - One, like others have pointed out: legality. Watch yourself. - If that doesn't worry you, I'd be wary of publicising this because you could lose loyalty from customers that put this vodka in place of premium vodka. You said it was the cheapest vodka you could get in NY. If their customers heard about this it wouldn't bode well.

jsumrall 13y ago

Bottling Permit: http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSEAF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAWS+&QUERYDATA=$$ABC96-A$$@TXABC096-A+&LIST=LAW http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSEAF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAW...

tegansnyder 13y ago

What if this was a fake story up about how they created a fake product to promote there startup and sell it as a real story to drive traffic to their startup? Either way a dangerous idea.

jasondenizac 13y ago

The amount of knee-jerking on this thread is why we can't have nice things.

bowlofpetunias 13y ago
This kind of juvenile behavior is not a "nice thing". At least not in the context of running a business.
- jasondenizac 13y ago
  I actually think this promotion was extremely on-brand for what this startup is (or was) doing. I can't speak to the regulatory compliance angle, but the fact is that this was clever, effective, and well-placed customer contact. It's not the risk profile that I would personally look for, but it is a little sad to see so many on HN rushing to condemn it. We can't have nice things when people who claim to be "disruptive" are actually busy pursuing safe, risk-averse targets.
  - kevinbracken 13y ago
    Indeed. Our market back then was quasi-legal loft parties and house parties, so this was idea was definitely to fit the mood of the "modern speakeasy." Thanks!
  - ihateloggingin 13y ago
    I don't really care about ATF regulations, but there is no moral high ground here. This was just plagiarism. These people pretended to have done something that they did not do. They took credit for someone else's work. So "we can't have nice things" here means "we can't plagiarize vodka"? Well you can't plagiarize Steven King either. Deal with it.
    - bluefinity 13y ago
      So, if I buy 1000 pens, and have my company name printed on them, I'm plagiarizing someone else's work? That's nonsense. Cheap vodka is a commodity, not an art form.

pallandt 13y ago

You sure have a lot of trust in 'sometimes as little as $9 for half a gallon' vodka that you planned to serve to other people.It shows how young you are, and not in a good light. Unfortunately while this move might've been regarded as a success for your company, it could've very well damaged your personal brand.

mkessy 13y ago
> It could've very well damaged your personal brand. But it didn't. They are smart guys. They'll learn that what they didn't probably wasn't advisable and they probably won't do it again, but they got away with it. They have a great story to tell and more users of their service. I new exactly what the response to this story was going to be before even reading the comments. HN just loves to knee jerk and tell people how wrong they are. It's a bit sad really.

callmeed 13y ago

You should've ran that vodka through a Brita or DIY filter http://gizmodo.com/5901746/vodka-alchemy-how-to-change-cheap-clear-hooch-from-terrible-to-tolerable http://gizmodo.com/5901746/vodka-alchemy-how-to-change-cheap...

Macsenour 13y ago
That's what I said! It would have improved it!

MichaelGG 13y ago

BTW, it doesn't seem like your site works if Faceblock is blocked (like say, via Ghostery or something).

Breefield 13y ago
Hey Michael, Yes—our require.js dependency chain relies on Facebook connect loading. So Ghostery is breaking things. I'll consider how I'm going to fix this. I suppose the most obvious solution is not making it a dependency.
- jasondenizac 13y ago
  Check out https://github.com/mozilla/SocialShare https://github.com/mozilla/SocialShare and Persona :)

yetanotherjosh 13y ago

At best this is ethical grey area territory. It's disturbing, all and the more disturbing that there are people cheering it on. I hope I don't end up at a party where the consumables have been manually swapped out by clever (desperate?) marketing people. Sorry, I'm just not rock and roll enough to appreciate deceit when it comes to things we eat and drink.

deleted_account 13y ago

"The video was viewed 500 times, almost entirely by people in Las Vegas according to the analytics. It was a huge hit, and we thought we left a pretty good impression. (Except with the department of health, hah!)" http://imgur.com/QV4EYpx http://imgur.com/QV4EYpx lolwut. I wonder how many people are submitting this blog post to ATFtips@atf.gov just for the lulz.

matthuggins 13y ago

Sorry this is totally off-topic, but I love the background music for the video. Can you share whose remix that is?

gallerytungsten 13y ago

As many others have pointed out, this stunt is almost certainly illegal. In addition to the obvious violations of Federal law, state and local laws were probably violated as well. This is not a matter of "failing to comply with regulations." This is a matter of operating a Distilled Spirits Plant without a license. Regarding labels, all labels are subject to approval by the TTB. (Not ATF. TTB, or more fully, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, was split off from what is now ATFE, in the Homeland Security re-organization of 2003.) Simply to submit a label for approval, you must have a Federal Basic Permit, along with various other federal approvals. Even if you're simply a "rectifier" (someone who blends and bottles, with no distilling) you need state and local permits as well. Labels generally have to be registered on the state level as well. This varies by state, but usually involves submitting your COLA (TTB certificate of label approval) to the relevant state agency and paying a fee. There are also standards of fill and alcohol content, although that's kind of irrelevant, as the operation was illegal from the get-go. As others note, the labels themselves probably weren't compliant with applicable law, (CFR 27) although again, that's also beside the point. For those curious, download the TTB's "Beverage Alcohol Manual, Volume 2, Distilled Spirits." It explains all the requirements. There's a learning curve. Even if you follow all the rules, your label may get sent back for revisions. I have yet to get one through on the first try. Even if you give spirits away, some states have laws regarding advance notification of the state alcohol authority. You might also need to have bartenders with "responsible vendor" certification pouring the drinks. Of course, you have to be licensed to submit this notification, although some jurisdictions allow for unlicensed parties to obtain "special event" permits. In summary, OP most likely broke a bunch of laws. On the bright side, they will probably get away with it, as the TTB is overworked and probably won't bother with something this penny-ante. A more likely danger is the state alcohol agency. My advice? Don't pull this kind of stunt again. If you really must, work with a licensed DSP (distilled spirits plant). Source: I'm a distiller.

bhickey 13y ago
On what scale do you distill? I don't see mention of it on your gallery page. A few years back I'd looked into importing spirits from central Asia only to conclude that it was much too capital intensive: overland transport, hazardous cargo shipping, import duties, a bonded warehouse, not to mention the risk of local labor unrest and temperance organizations.