What were they thinking?

[BRWombat]

Yikes! It's one thing to put Mickey on a box of cereal, but this strikes
me as "Joe Camel: The Sequel"! Here's an idea we can be thankful is dead and
gone:
[indent]
After complaints from California winemakers and opponents of underage
drinking, Costco and Disney have decided to pull the plug on distributing
Disney's Ratatouille Chardonnay. The French 2004 vintage white
Burgundy bottles were to have Remy on the label. People felt that having the
Disney Pixar character on the label would promote underage drinking. "We've
decided to just not go through with it," said Disney spokesman Gary Foster.
"We've been getting a trickle of inquiries and complaints."

California winemakers seemed to be upset at the fact that Disney was
promoting a French wine. "The California Wine Institute has been relentless in
trying to make this an issue" that it's a French wine, said Disney spokesman
Gary Foster. "But, the entire movie is based on a French restaurant and
French food and wine."

While The California Wine Institute applauds Disney's move to end the
promotion, they deny claims that they were upset about the wine being
French. "We would have been just as upset if it were a California wine," said
Nancy Light, an institute spokeswoman. She says that the label violates a
code that all institute members must abide by. It bans any advertising that
might appeal to people below the legal drinking age. "We were in touch with
[Disney]. We basically shared the code with them," Light said. [/indent]
Original story here.

[ktulu]

And I was looking forward to having a (empty) bottle of this :(

[lady ulrike]

It makes sense to me actually. The movie took place in France and had wine in
it. The thing about Disney is that there are plenty of adults who love Disney as
much as or more than kids and some that will by anything connected to Disney.

[Big Wallaby]

While they don't serve alcohol at MK, I know they're not against alcohol. See: Pleasure Island.

[BRWombat]

No argument to any of this. I'm not saying Disney should be anti-alcohol, and I
know most European cultures drink wine like we drink water.

But even thinking about putting a cartoon character on the label? Not bright.

[hobie16]

...I know most European cultures drink wine like we drink water.

No kidding! I was in France on business. We took the potential customer out to
lunch. He insisted we try a bottle of his favorite wine. It was good stuff. I
was so hammered I think we paid him to buy our stuff. No wonder those guys
always take an afternoon nap. It's to sleep off lunch.

[Floridian]

Just one of those ideas that sounded really good at first. I could see something
like that being popular if they bottled a kid friendly drink in a wine bottle with
the character on it. Although that still might upset some people as being to
close to encouraging kids to drink alcohol, but I don't know. Even a real wine
but with more of a classic Disney character on the bottle rather than a brand
new one that probably has (slightly) more child fans and adult ones could be
appropriate. Disney has never come off as anti alcohol to me though, head on
over to EPCOT and, if your willing to spend the money, you can drink some type
of adult beverage from every country there.

[mechurchlady]

I guess we forget the Pabst Blue Ribbon bear and Joe Cool the cigarette smoking camel.

[Cranbiz]

While they don't serve alcohol at MK, I know they're not against alcohol. See: Pleasure Island.

See Miss Red Dress :)

[mechurchlady]

MK is patterned after DL. Walt wanted DL to be a place that was a safe haven
to take kids. It was not uncommon at the parks to hear cussing, fights, drunks
and they were dirty. Thus the hidden Club 33 and no booze in DL. MK being
patterned after that park also is no booze.

DCA serves boozes at the winery.