Controversies Boston Beer Company

since 1990, company has produced seasonal fruit beer labeled cranberry lambic . lambic describes spontaneously fermented beer produced in brussels or nearby pajottenland region, , samuel adams product not spontaneously fermented, consumers , brewers charged cranberry lambic mislabeled , cause consumer confusion (michael jackson, leading beer critic, called misleading name .) grant wood, senior brewing manager @ boston beer, defended name, saying, wouldn t consider mislabeling. whenever have served cranberry lambic, have been front it. true lambic made in region in belgium? no. taste one? yes. s sort of our homage style without pain , agony of it.

during 2000–2002, company sponsored radio show on wnew in new york called opie & anthony. hosts created promotion called sex sam , in opie , anthony encouraged couples have sex in notable public places in new york city. on august 15, 2002, virginia couple charged public lewdness after attempting have sex in vestibule @ st. patrick s cathedral; led firing of radio hosts week later.

in october 2007, in incident referred wall street journal sam adams v. sam adams, boston beer company demanded control of domain names samadamsformayor.com , mayorsamadams.com turned on company. domains had been purchased employee of portland, oregon radio station newsradio 1190 kex campaign of portland mayoral candidate, sam adams. in cease-and-desist letter, company expressed concern consumers might confuse mayoral candidate beer. in interview associated press company said willing discuss adams use of name on web sites, length of time election being held.

in april 2008, boston beer company issued first recall, because of potential defects found in 12-us-fluid-ounce (350 ml) glass bottles manufactured third-party supplier supplies quarter of bottles boston beer company uses. boston beer company stated believed fewer 1% of bottles supplier contain small pieces of glass , issued recall safety of consumers. there no reports of injuries. news of recall led shares of company temporarily dropping on 3%.

on july 4, 2013, video commercial sam adams beer rolled out on july 4th holiday created controversy on omitted phrase. manufacturer decided leave out endowed creator in invocation of declaration of independence outraged critics. sam adams said following trade association rules. company said in statement:

beer institute advertising code says, beer advertising , marketing materials should not include religion or religious themes. agree , try adhere these guidelines.