Further to my previous post regarding the LCBO's banning of the skull shaped vodka bottle here is their reply:
Dear Mr. Ricketts,
Thank you for your feedback regarding Dan Akroyd’s Crystal Head Vodka. We appreciate your opinion and have shared your message with appropriate departments.
The following provides a little more information regarding our decision, along with an option for you to purchase this product in Ontario.
More on why we won’t sell this product in our stores:
The LCBO’s decision not to offer Crystal Head Vodka in our stores was not taken lightly, and is in keeping with our guidelines for product packaging. We recognize that beverage alcohol packaging these days is sometimes meant to be provocative for marketing reasons. However, the image of a human skull was problematic for us as a responsible retailer as it is an image commonly associated in many cultures with death or the risk of death by poisoning. This was especially problematic at a time when there is a growing concern among parents and responsible drinking advocacy groups about the prevalence of binge drinking by younger adults which in some cases leads to alcohol poisoning. We also were concerned with how this imagery would affect those who have lost family and friends due to drunk driving.
If a product’s packaging was sexually exploitive, demeaning, or connoted violence in some way that would likewise not fit with our image as a responsible retailer – it would be off-brand for us, just as other companies may choose not to endorse products or images that they feel are off-brand for them. In fact, we recently opted not to buy a vodka in an AK 47-shaped bottle because of the connotation of violence. Similarly, packaging that might appeal to kids would be a concern.
Purchasing Crystal Head Vodka via Private Ordering service:
We have a good relationship with Dan Aykroyd and have worked with him on numerous occasions to promote his Ontario wines and Patron Tequila. It’s been a good partnership but the skull head just didn’t fit in with the image we like to promote for beverage alcohol. While we do not offer Crystal Head Vodka in our stores, customers and licensees can obtain it through our private ordering service.
Thank you for your email.
Janie Dupont
Information Officer, Contact Centre, LCBO
1 Yonge Street, 11th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5E 1E5
T: (416) 365-5900 F: (416) 864-2596
Standard bureaucratic verbiage with no real insights or reasons.
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