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consumer behavior
target
Why Does Target Need ALL Of Your Driver's License Data To Sell You Wine?
Thruhike98 tried to buy some wine at Target a couple of weekends ago, and they were surprised at how invasive the ID check turned out to be:
More »My wife showed the cashier her license, which was behind a clear window in her wallet. He said, “No, please hand it to me.” We both assumed he just wanted a closer look. Once he had it, he immediately picked up a barcode scanner and scanned the back of her drivers license. I asked him what that was all about, as I had never seen anyone do that before. Almost bragging that Target now knows, for example, exactly where we live, he explained that the scan “gets all the information off of the license.”
bad consumer
Woman Punches JetBlue Flight Attendant In The Face For Not Letting Her Smoke
Once again we remind you not to drink too much at the airport before getting on your flight. We know airports are boring and sad and they make you want to kill the pain with copious amounts of gin. Don't do it — or you could end up punching a JetBlue flight attendant in the face. More »
evil booze
The World's 5 Worst Ways To Get Drunk
We had a sense that some readers may have been put off by The Most Expensive Spirits In The World. We realize now that there are many people who are only willing to spend a few pennies to get drunk, even if it means massive organ damage or death. For those people, Cracked has assembled a list of The World's 5 Worst Ways To Get Drunk. The list, inside... More »
vodka
Vodka Is Pretty Much The Same No Matter What Brand You Buy
In what may have been the most awesome blind taste test ever, a BusinessWeek writer served his friends chilled shots of various brands of vodka to see whether there was any noticeable difference in taste. His argument was that vodka is a neutral spirit and by definition is nearly indistinguishable from one brand to the next—and that consequently the "brand story" (including country of origin) is really all that separates a Grey Goose drinker from a Ketel One alkie. To test this, he asked his subjects to pick their favorite brands from shots and mixed drinks. More »
controversy
Beer T-shirts For Teenage Girls Bad For America?
The Center for Science in the Public Interest has its knickers in a twist over Forever 21 selling "beer shirts," because the clothing retailer is "popular with teenage girls." More »
Pennsylvania, a land ruled by the draconian "Liquor Control Board," may allow wine vending machines with “fingerprints and biometric readings” for age verification to be placed in grocery stores so that people can finally buy wine at the supermarket. What the hell is wrong with Pennsylvania?[Dr. Vino ]
smashed
Drunk Dell Tech Repairs Laptop With Hammer
A boozy Dell tech tried to repair the headphone jack on Andrea's Inspiron 9100 with a hammer. Andrea's sense of propriety kept her quiet when Joel arrived reeking of booze and cigarettes, and neither she nor her boyfriend spoke up when he started wielding a hammer to install parts that wouldn't fit onto the motherboard. Joel ended up cracking the case and putting nail holes through the wrist pad. When he left, Andrea called Dell to complain and asked for a new tech. Who did Dell dispatch? Joel! More »
advertising
Attorneys General Investigating Anheuser-Busch And Miller Over Energy Drink Marketing
Attorneys general in several states have subpoenaed documents from A-B and Miller as part of an investigation in to the marketing of caffeinated alcoholic energy drinks, says the AP. More »
drunks on a plane
Sorry alcoholics, US Airways is now banned from serving alcohol on all flights to and from New Mexico. The state Regulation and Licensing Department had already denied the airline a temporary liquor license in June after US Airways served alcohol to a passenger who later crashed his car, killing a family of five. The Licensing Department yesterday rejected the airline's permanent application, claiming that it:
US Airways Denied New Mexico Liquor License
Sorry alcoholics, US Airways is now banned from serving alcohol on all flights to and from New Mexico. The state Regulation and Licensing Department had already denied the airline a temporary liquor license in June after US Airways served alcohol to a passenger who later crashed his car, killing a family of five. The Licensing Department yesterday rejected the airline's permanent application, claiming that it:...cannot reasonably find that approval of application will protect the public health and safety or that it is in the public interest.More »
alcohol
Why Can You Brew Your Own Beer, But Not Moonshine?
Slate investigates, and the short answer is, because the government stands to lose too much money on lost sales of spirits, which are taxed far higher than beer: the U.S. "takes an excise tax of $2.14 for each 750-milliliter bottle of 80-proof spirits, compared with 21 cents for a bottle of wine (of 14 percent alcohol or less) and 5 cents for a can of beer." More »
dire consequences
Why Stores Have To ID Everyone
Our earlier post about carding senior citizens was all well and good, but here's what life's like from the other side of the register, according to Behind the Counter: "Nearly everyone who works a register and is faced with the prospect of selling tobacco and alcohol ought to be very, very afraid. Why? Because the federal government is watching you and will deliberately try to bust your Wal-Mart khaki-clad behind!" More »
drunk with power
Liquor Store Refuses To Sell Booze To Man Who May Be 12 or 74, Who Can Say?
A shop in England refused to sell two bottles of wine to a white-haired, balding grandfather—you know, the kind with wrinkles on his face—because he balked when the cashier asked him to prove he was over 21. The man, being ornery in that way that old folks just naturally embrace, refused: "I felt like saying 'What do I look like? Are you a fool?'" More »
eat, drink and be merry
10 Great Wines For $10 Or Less
The sommeliers who read The Consumerist may scoff, but there are actually some decent wines available for $10 or less, or so says the New York Times food critics. They tasted 25 popular low-price wines and picked the ten they thought were decent:The wines we recommend are gulpable and satisfying with a modest level of intrigue. You cannot expect much complexity at this level, or subtlety. But you can hope for something more than the most basic, and you can strive to avoid wines that are obviously confected or manipulated to achieve a predetermined set of characteristics.
More »
polls
Should Alcoholic Beverages Have Nutrition Labels?
Our alcoholic uncle always swore that booze was healthy, and if the Treasury Department has its way, nutrition labels on alcoholic beverages may soon have people thinking he was right. A rule issued last week by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau would require all alcoholic beverages to sport a panel listing traditional information like serving size and alcohol content, along with data on calorie, carbohydrate, fat, and protein content. The alcoholic beverage industry vigorously supports the rule, but some advocacy organizations are concerned that the nutrition labels might imply that alcoholic beverages have some nutritional value. Tell us what you think of the proposed rule in our poll, after the jump. More »
news from the parking lot
Teens Prefer Liquor To Beer, Hate Wine
The CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report claims that teens prefer bourbon, rum, scotch, whiskey, and vodka to beer. Why should you care? Regulators and policy makers use the statistics to develop beverage-specific measures to combat underage drinking, "including increasing alcohol excise taxes and increasing restrictions on the distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages." The CDC studied high schoolers in Nebraska, Arkansas, New Mexico, and Wyoming, and found the following: More »
Personal blood-alcohol meters are pieces of crap, giving wildly inaccurately results.
