The liberal press has made a screeching – but nonetheless predictable – U-turn after it emerged that nanny state plain packaging rules might apply to craft alcohol.
Despite usually believing in the powers of big government to make everyone healthier and happier, they eventually found a line in the sand between health and liberty – their favorite craft drinks.
The Observer, the British sister newspaper of The Guardian, included a sympathetic piece this weekend allowing the drinks industry to have its say.
The acceptable face of alcoholism chosen was Jarer Brown, a master distiller who makes specialist gins for the discerning market.
Products include a lemon drizzle-flavored gin and a fancy “sipping vodka”, created in a gorgeous-looking London distillery.
The explosion in fancy gins has gone hand-in-hand with the craft beer epidemic, which has taken hipster culture by storm.
By default, publications like the Guardian tend to offer a sympathetic ear to public health officials who want to crack down on other “sinful” products.
Chief among them are cigarettes, which must be packaged in unattractive, generic containers superimposed with images of cancer-stricken lungs and the like.
When the debate around legislating against cigarettes was raging, a Guardian editorial praised idea, calling it a “sensible public health policy” and “worth trying”.
Opponents – including on Heat Street – have argued that the measure is patronising, ineffective and disproportionately targets the poor.
However, when the same logic is applied to the regulation of alcohol – including the fancy kind rich people like – it again becomes an issue of freedom.
Brown labelled the measure “an absurdity”, and warned it could crush companies like his.
He said: “It will crush the craft side of the industry. It will shift the business back to the industrial producers, who will be very happy to move people back to mass-produced drinks. If something like this comes through we won’t be able to weather it.”
