Russian Standard Vodka Brings Miss Russia Girls to US

From Luxist

"Russian Standard Vodka, which bills itself as Russia's #1 luxury vodka, has embarked on a nine-city U.S. tour with a gaggle of gorgeous contestants from the Miss Russia Pageant. In each city, the models are toasting the U.S. and providing fans "an insider look into Russia's most popular cities, cultural heritage and legendary nightlife." The Russian beauties, including Alina Ivanova (above) pictured at the Russian Standard distillery, are currently in Miami making their way to New York for a Nov. 19 finale.

The Miss Russia Pageant is Russia's national beauty pageant which draws contestants from over 70 regions and serves as a springboard to national and international fame for many young women. The annual Miss Russia winner receives a $100,000 cash prize, free use of an apartment for a year, a university stipend and a modeling contract. Russian Standard vodkas are made with only the finest local ingredients, "uniquely conforming to the formula for vodka established in 1894" by famed Russian scientist Dimitri Mendeleev for Russia's Czars."



CSR anyone?

CSR Nightmare for Sparks

From Slashfood:

"Sparks, the "caffeinated alcohol beverage with a blend of caffeine, taurine, guarana and ginseng extract," has been around since 2002 and has been owned by Miller since 2006, so it certainly isn't a new phenomenon. However, a number of questionable decisions recently have led to a massive backlash against the beverage and may well spell the end of alcohol/energy drink hybrids on the market.

General sentiment has been building that caffeinated alcohol beverages pose a risk to drinkers, especially for younger and underage drinkers who the beverages' detractors believe the products directly target. In fact, last summer, Anheuser-Busch received enough pressure that they eventually stopped making caffeinated-alcohol products. However, MillerCoors managed not only to slip by, but appears to have decided to do some flaunting.

First, the company announced they would be releasing Sparks Red this October, an addition to the Sparks product line that will have as much as 8% alcohol by volume -- a significant step up from the original Sparks' 6% ABV. Then there was backlash against what many considered to be a raunchy and unethical advertising campaign.

Well, they got publicity, but probably not what they were hoping for. As of yesterday, district attorneys from 25 states have called for the cancellation of the Sparks Red launch and, last week, the Center for Science in the Public Interest sued MillerCoors to stop selling Sparks all together. Public opinion seems to be shutting this industry down."

Kreskova Vodka ad from Russia

Thanks to Victor Houghton for finding this on YouTube.

Clear Glass is better for the environment than coloured glass

From the Observer last Sunday:

"Crucially, recycling glass reduces the need for energy-intensive quarrying of silica and lime. For every tonne of recycled glass used, 1.2 tonnes of raw material is preserved. Besides, glass recycles beautifully precisely because it contains such simple materials. It can be turned back into jars and bottles using the minimum of energy except - and herein lies the problem - if it's green glass. Because the UK is a prolific wine importer but produces very little wine, traditionally more green bottles have been left sitting on the wall than we have use for. They used to be piled up in green-glass mountains and shipped to South America for reprocessing, but now they are crushed and used as aggregate in road building.

Granted, assisting in the expansion of UK motorways won't earn anyone an ethical halo - which is why wherever possible you should try and buy clear glass. In fact, there's a shortage of clear glass returned for recycling. Pubs, restaurants and bars could contribute some of the 600,000 tonnes of glass they generate each year, 80 per cent of which is chucked into landfill. The exceptions include the Strada restaurant chain and Young's pubs. Their glass is now recycled by an innovative firm, Smash & Grab (smashgrab.co.uk), which rescues the equivalent of 625,000 wine bottles from landfill each year."

So let's all make sure we use clear glass as a way of doing our bit for the environment.

Canadian Drink Driving Campaign

Canadian PSA's for Drinking and Driving. Responsible drinking messages are becoming more prevalent in Canada; especially over the holiday season.

This was from Paul in Toronto.