CODA: Tempest in a Gimlet Glass - Spike's Brooklyn Mixology Invites Flack

"And little John Barleycorn Carrie Nation/
proved the strongest one at last"
-English traditional song

Even after the thrashing that the Brooklyn Blogfest took last spring, in making what appeared to be a gentle, sponsorship deal with Absolut Vodka, featuring their new beveragatudinal collaboration with Spike Lee, Absolut Brooklyn, the distiller's foray into Brooklyn branding (or brandy) continues to generate controversy.

The NY Daily News, via the New York Observer, reports that:
Some Bed-Stuy residents are apparently not pleased about being inundated with ads for Spike Lee's Absolut Vodka collaboration, the Daily News reports. The New York-based Children's Aid Society counted 56 ads featuring the modified bottle in the neighborhood.

"You're not supposed to be promoting stuff like that in areas that can barely afford food," said one teen who participated in the counting.

"If you haven't seen it, the bottle is extremely Lee'd-out. It features a Brownstone stoop, and the little medallion near the top of the bottle has been modified to include glasses and a baseball cap. It is infused with apples and ginger, traditional neighborhood flavors, as every Brooklynite knows."

DITHOB Note: actually, the apple appears to be for "The Big Apple"; however, ginger ale is reportedly a flavo fave of the director. Of course, from a marketing perspective, ginger also offers nice, West Indian-Brooklyn grace notes and resonations.

"Mr. Lee had no comment for the paper. Last month, Page Six reported that his wife Tonya Lewis Lee joked that she was hesitant to be photographed near a bottle of Belvedere, given her husband's partnership with the competitor."