Dirty Laundry Wines - The Rise of Shock Labels

Traditional branding was based on choosing names that exude the product’s qualities and attributes.  Why bother?  That’s the attitude of many hot new companies who are choosing shocking titles for their identities.  Nowhere is this more pronounced than in the wonderful world of wine.  Here, shocking labels like Fat Bastard and now Dirty Laundry, are on the rise.  In fact, earlier in the year, we covered a company that had its trademark rejected for branding their wine, ”Jesus Juice”.

From Brand Channel:
What’s in a name? For a growing number of players in the liquor industry, pretty much everything. Increasingly crowded liquor and beer store shelves have prompted breweries and wineries around the world to rack their brains for unique and amusing—but most importantly, memorable—names for both their operations and the liquid in their bottles.

Sitting alongside traditional cabernets, merlots and sauvignons today are Fat Bastard and Wild Pig from France, Mad Dogs & Englishmen from Spain, Cat’s Pee on a Gooseberry Bush and Glamour Puss from New Zealand, and Dirty Laundry from Canada. Clearly, this isn’t your parents’ wine store.

The goal behind these seemingly ridiculous monikers is differentiation—get your product in the mouths of consumers for the first time because of the name and they’ll come back for the taste. (BRANCHANNEL)