Dive Brief:
- The Wisconsin Senate passed a bill that, if signed into law by the governor, would allow liquor and grocery stores to hand out mini-shot samples of hard alcohol. These stores can already distribute beer and wine samples.
- Brown-Forman Corp. is giving the reins for its Old Forester bourbon brand to Campbell Brown, a fifth-generation descendant of the company's founder — the first time a Brown descendant has been at the helm of the label in close to a century.
- To promote Florida's beloved citrus, bars and restaurants in the Sunshine State are garnishing glasses of Blue Moon Belgian White with slices of Florida oranges, a $20,000 campaign that kicked off at the beginning of March.
Dive Insight:
Also participating in the Blue Moon-Florida oranges promotion are grocery stores like Publix and Wal-Mart with displays that have "a $5 mail-in rebate with the purchase of two six packs or one 12-pack of Blue Moon beer and a 5-pound bag of Florida oranges or a 59-ounce or larger carton of 100% Florida orange juice."
Publix is in the midst of its own promotions as well, with the grocery chain purchasing more properties to grow its number of stores. When Wal-Mart isn't promoting a mix of Blue Moon and an orange slice, it's going through its own remix of company executives, as the retailer's VP of the U.S. grocery division is now retiring, among other changes.