You would think most people would know the difference between vodka and a radio. Well, not so fast. The company that markets Absolut Vodka is suing Absolute Radio because it's afraid consumers will confuse the two.
According to out-law.com: "Virgin Radio was bought by the Times of India in June and part of that deal was that the station would be renamed. It was relaunched as Absolute Radio last month. A spokeswoman for The Absolut Company confirmed that a High Court action had been taken because there was a risk of confusion and of Absolute Radio 'passing off' its services as Absolut's."
I'm not sure how this case will turn out, but I am sure of the relationship between Radio and drinking, courtesy of the archive:
* BBC Radio 3 DJ Admits to Harassing Wife, Drunk Driving
* A Talk Show Host, A Strip Club, A Motorcycle, Some Booze, An Arrest
* Cleveland Radio's John Lanigan Arrested For Drunken Driving
Comments
It does beg the question why they decided on ‘Absolute’ as a name for the station (comments about it being ‘Absolute S***’ are commonplace at the moment) – equally a beer company I have been working with on a radio project had no interest in using them as they didn’t want to associate themselves with the name, as name awareness is much stronger in the drinks brand than the radio brand. So they’re losing a lot of potential business from the drinks industry.