Every time you open a screwcap, a kitten dies!
It’s almost as if cork producers have hired Glenn Beck to present their $22 million marketing campaign! The campaign, mostly in Britain, links a switch to synthetic wine closures to the decline of the endangered Iberian lynx.
If you are interested in the Iberian lynx, surf over to SOS Lynx. It discusses the causes of their dwindling lynx numbers (chiefly, a decline in wild rabbits and 70% of their natural habitats allowing hunting), a doubling of females in recent years, and how most of Iberian lynx live in Spain, not Portugal, which produces over 50% of the world’s cork.
Jul
21
2010
On July 21st, 2010 at 12:05 pm ,Suzanna wrote:
Interesting … will have to check out the links to get the full story.
On July 21st, 2010 at 1:22 pm ,ss wrote:
I followed your links. Where is the Glenn Beck video??
On July 21st, 2010 at 1:55 pm ,Michael wrote:
My first thought when I saw Glenn Beck was to wonder why anyone would use that idiot for a real cause. Then I read the article though and saw that the World Wildlife Fund is the group behind the concern, a group far more reliable than Glenn Beck (but then I’d probably believe Bernie Maddof before Glenn, so that’s not saying much).
Anyway, I tend to prefer cork for most anything but the cheapest tier so I can’t say as that anyone has to change my mind.
On July 21st, 2010 at 4:03 pm ,Leah McNally wrote:
LOL – I got that same impression from the press release. And how was the fact that the majority of the “supporters” were women relevant in any way to the cause?
On July 21st, 2010 at 7:05 pm ,Scott wrote:
What a terrible twist! The cork industry should be embarrassed to have to revert to this type of tactic to sell more of their flawed product. What will they turn to next, cork adds health benefits to the wine being stored within?! Come on folks, play fair!
On July 21st, 2010 at 7:06 pm ,Karen McCamp wrote:
I occasionally watch Glenn Beck and from what I know of him I don’t think he would be up in arms over this argument of the wildlife group. He typically leans more to the Libertarian beliefs as far as I know unless he has changed recently. I will have to check this clip out, because he often says stuff sarcastically and it gets misunderstood.
On July 21st, 2010 at 8:29 pm ,Every time you open a screwcap, a kitten dies! | Dr Vino’s wine blog « [wine, inc] wrote:
[…] Every time you open a screwcap, a kitten dies! | Dr Vino’s wine blog. Categories: Uncategorized Comments (0) Trackbacks (0) Leave a comment Trackback […]
On July 21st, 2010 at 8:45 pm ,ss wrote:
seriously, where’s the video?
On July 22nd, 2010 at 3:33 am ,Wink Lorch wrote:
They’ve been using similar tactics in the UK for some years. They forged an alliance some years ago with the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) about the loss of the Bonelli Eagle in Portugal. In order to allow my brother to drink wines sealed with screwcaps, I had to use some strong arguments with my sister-in-law, a bird lover and support of the RSPB, who had read an article about it in the supporter’s magazine.
On July 22nd, 2010 at 9:42 am ,Dave wrote:
“It’s ALMOST as if cork producers have hired Glenn Beck….”!? You’re one step away from becoming Andrew Breitbart, turning Glenn Beck into Shirley Sherrod!
If you don’t like the guy, fine. But at least have some journalism ethics!
On July 22nd, 2010 at 10:43 am ,Marie wrote:
Leah – it’s about as relevant as the gender of the winemaker is to the quality of the wine.
On July 22nd, 2010 at 10:57 am ,GeneFiorot wrote:
There is no video it is a doctored photo.. jeez
On July 22nd, 2010 at 11:20 am ,RP wrote:
My basic point is: if we already have a sustainable way of doing things why not support it an improve it, instead of becoming more and more dependent on oil (plastics) and aluminum? Corks have improved drastically in the last years and will continue to do so if we consumers support it.
Oh and suggesting the association of this campaign with lunatic Glenn Beck is just wrong and misleading… I expected more from Dr Vino.
On July 22nd, 2010 at 11:34 am ,Tasting note generator given 99+ pt rating! | Dr Vino's wine blog wrote:
[…] writers, already about as endangered as the Iberian lynx thanks to the sagging media world (not screwcaps), have something new to fear–automatically […]
On July 22nd, 2010 at 11:43 am ,LGC wrote:
Anyone remember this same campaign back in 2002, for example, see here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2609157.stm
And, how is Miguel doing? did Rob Schneider help save him back in 2009? see here:
http://www.corkfacts.com/publications/2009mar24pge03.htm
Any idea how many of those corks you have actually collected or recycled since 2002 LIWSF (by the way, cork is extrememly resistant to heat (incineration) and takes forever to biodegrade!)
Seriously, those Lynx (whose main home is SPAIN) are still fine! Their total population has actually grown since 2002, all the while natural cork has been losing market share to alternatives. Not to mention these lynx also often kill their own siblings, which does not help survival (hello DARWIN?). But they will likely still be fine in 2012 when you get your next round of EU/portugese funding for the same ‘save our business’ campaign (as if the EU, specifically Spain and Portugal govt’s., don’t have better financing opportunities to be focused on right now!)
Let animal conservations do their jobs on kittens, and instead learn how to compete on packaging performance for the wine…
On July 22nd, 2010 at 12:33 pm ,Joseph wrote:
“My first thought when I saw Glenn Beck was to wonder why anyone would use that idiot for a real cause.”
It doesn’t take an eletist genius to tell the truth now does it ? Hah !
On July 22nd, 2010 at 12:34 pm ,Joseph wrote:
“Oh and suggesting the association of this campaign with lunatic Glenn Beck is just wrong and misleading…”
As opposed to whom, the lunatic Pelosi ?
On July 22nd, 2010 at 12:37 pm ,Joseph wrote:
Everyone knows kittens don’t die from twisting off a screwcap. One kitten dies every time a liberal masterbates.
On July 22nd, 2010 at 2:01 pm ,BLT wrote:
And boy do I hate kittens! Irony and sarcasm are dead.
Mrs. Landingham to Leo McGarry,”Ah sarcasm, the grumpy man’s wit.”
On July 22nd, 2010 at 7:08 pm ,Joseph wrote:
anyways, you guys are funny, love you all. Screwcaps are good sure, but if a winery uses a “GOOD” cork, ($.35 or more) it really is the way to go for an outstanding wine.
On July 22nd, 2010 at 9:41 pm ,RobinC wrote:
If they plant eucalyptus trees, they can import koalas, but if they then go back to cork trees a koala will die every time they pop a cork. I guess it’s a lose-lose situation.
On July 23rd, 2010 at 7:18 am ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Hi all –
I find the campaign cynical, specious, wrongheaded and in some ways, offensive. Thus I thus wrote a post (and, yes, used photoshop!) to underscore this in a satirical way.
Forests can be preserved in a variety of ways, foremost among them being made into national parks. Oak trees, which can live for 400 years, do not have to have their bark harvested to provide shade for the lynx as far as I am aware. The lynx population was threatened well before the rise of screwcaps.
The browbeating of consumers continues on Twitter where Wines of Portugal tweets: “The fashion for the screw cap wines among the middle class is destroying forests and could lead to the extinction…”
Are wines sealed with cork not also popular with “the middle class”?
A sincere campaign would focus on how cork is the superior closure, which it is in many ways. Unfortunately for cork producers, the problem of cork taint has led to a significant market share loss in the past decade or two. Laying the guilt on consumers for what stems from a quality control problem seems like a strategy that can result in a great deal of consumer alienation. Perhaps redirect this $22 mln toward R&D?
Wink- poignant!
LGC- thanks for the links (lynx?).
Dave- welcome back. I’m curious if you could elaborate on what you found in this post to be lacking in “journalism ethics.” And perhaps you’d like to share your last name publicly?
On July 23rd, 2010 at 9:48 am ,Jim L. wrote:
What a BS campaign about using cork saves some animal in the forest.
Question:
How did those poor animals survive in the forest before the use of cork in bottles and the growth of wines in our culture?
I cannot believe any intelligent person could buy this line of garbage.
On a side note, one of the most well-known Napa Valley wine makers told me in a meeting that if he could, he would screw cap every bottle of wine he made including his high end expensive Reserves.
Nothing bothered him more than to see a Reserve Cabernet, for example, returned because of a bad cork.
On July 23rd, 2010 at 11:32 am ,Dr. Vino wrote:
I just stumbled on a July 14 article in the Financial Times that treats some of these issues. Here are a few grafs that suggest an alternate direction for the marketing campaign:
Style–now that’s an element that could resonate a lot better with consumers than shame.
Maybe do an ad like the Mac guy and the PC guy where the guy pulling the cork hears a pop and the guy with the screwcap hears an unsatisfying twist?
Or do hire Wieden & Kennedy to do something akin to the Old Spice ads, which P&G has paid $20 million for this year, the same as the cork budget.
There are so many, less cynical, marketing options!
Also, TCA may be reduced but it is not eliminated as evidenced by the list of corked wines at Bar Boulud in the last three months.
On July 23rd, 2010 at 3:58 pm ,BLT wrote:
George Taber the author of “Judgment at Paris” wrote a book on closures called “To Cork or Not To Cork.” If this subject interests you than I suggest you find it.
On July 23rd, 2010 at 6:39 pm ,Ken Payton wrote:
“I find the campaign cynical, specious, wrongheaded and in some ways, offensive.” Well, Mr. Coleman is not known for his subtlety. And neither am I. There is nothing cynical about arguing for the preservation of a culture. There is nothing specious about noting, as the ‘campaign’ does, that there exists a biodiversity specific to cork forests. There is nothing wrongheaded about noting the 1000s of folks employed in the Portuguese cork industry.
What is offensive is to reduce an entire discussion to a single issue, that of the lynx. This is Mr. Coleman’s ‘Glenn Beck moment’. Not APCOR’s. The cork industry’s multiple arguments are far more detailed and nuanced than Mr. Coleman would have his faithful readers consider. Indeed, I find it amusing that Mr. Coleman’s comment in this thread is at least twice as long as his initial post.
There is a thriving, entertaining, and informative debate circulating on the internet around cork versus synthetic versus screwcap. My suggestion to Mr. Coleman would be use at least the same amount of time he spends playing with PhotoShop to provide useful, productive links so that his readership might become better informed. His ‘man shouts at cloud’ approach does nothing more than shutter thought.
I also suggest he brush up on his principles of forestry management. Why is it our national parks each summer suffer conflagrations?
On July 24th, 2010 at 10:20 am ,Cork vs. Screw Cap debate goes environmental - Beverage News and Reviews wrote:
[…] a bottle of wine in a screw cap is in fact doing just that… well, it's just plain dumb. Dr. Vino's blog yesterday pointed out this fact in a much more amusing […]
On July 27th, 2010 at 11:32 am ,Alastair wrote:
I hate kittens.
Ken, who is this Mr. Coleman you keep bringing up?
On July 28th, 2010 at 9:53 am ,Cork vs. Screw Cap debate goes environmental « Beverage Warehouse wrote:
[…] a bottle of wine in a screw cap is in fact doing just that… well, it's just plain dumb. Dr. Vino's blog yesterday pointed out this fact in a much more amusing […]
On July 30th, 2010 at 9:43 am ,Woman tries to recycle her cork lingerie [video] | Dr Vino's wine blog wrote:
[…] than scaring you about the Iberian lynx, some cork enthusiasts have put out a video to try to save…foxes? Foxes and forests? Bottles […]
On August 10th, 2010 at 1:47 pm ,Paul Kalemkiarian wrote:
It amazes me the lengths to which cork producers will go in order to sustain an industry that is fast-dying due to its product being both antiquated and, when compared to its screw cap counterpart, largely ineffectual.
I agree with Dr. Vino:
“Laying the guilt on consumers for what stems from a quality control problem seems like a strategy that can result in a great deal of consumer alienation.”
Thank you for an interesting read.
Paul Kalemkiarian
President, Wine of the Month Club
On December 16th, 2010 at 3:52 pm ,The sexiest bottles don’t sport wood [video] | Dr Vino's wine blog wrote:
[…] roll out their $22 million promotional campaign. Their current ad is even worse than the one about killing kittens. In the video, a woman jumps on top of a man because he brought a wine closed with a cork harvested […]
On February 14th, 2011 at 6:42 pm ,Paul Kalemkiarian wrote:
It amazes me the lengths to which cork producers will go in order to sustain an industry that is fast-dying due to its product being both antiquated and, when compared to its screw cap counterpart, largely ineffectual.
I agree with Dr. Vino:
“Laying the guilt on consumers for what stems from a quality control problem seems like a strategy that can result in a great deal of consumer alienation.â€
Thank you for an interesting read.
Paul Kalemkiarian
President, Wine of the Month Club
http://www.wineofthemonthclub.com
On February 17th, 2011 at 8:26 am ,Move over Old Spice guy, here comes Zin man | Dr Vino's wine blog wrote:
[…] cork marketers, take note! Permalink | Comments (9) | | TV and movies This entry was posted on Wednesday, […]
On March 14th, 2011 at 5:40 pm ,Cork vs. Screw Cap debate goes environmental « Industry News « Wine Notes wrote:
[…] a bottle of wine in a screw cap is in fact doing just that… well, it's just plain dumb. Dr. Vino's blog yesterday pointed out this fact in a much more amusing […]
On April 13th, 2011 at 12:45 pm ,Cork vs. Screw Cap debate goes environmental « Industry News « Wine Notes wrote:
[…] a bottle of wine in a screw cap is in fact doing just that… well, it’s just plain dumb. Dr. Vino’s blog yesterday pointed out this fact in a much more amusing […]
On December 9th, 2011 at 6:32 am ,De corchos y tapones | Cooperativa VitivinÃcola del Ribeiro wrote:
[…] al tema, este vÃdeo de Dr.Vino seguro que te despierta una sonrisa, o este enlace a algunas de las locuras que se han llegado a decir sobre los tapones de rosca y su relación con el medio ambiente y la extinción del lince. CompárteloCorreo electrónicoLike […]