In this age of political correctness, one would think that LCBO ought to know better than offend Czech national sensibilities. According to their recent advertising insert published in liquor stores, magazines and newspapers across Ontario, Pilsner, the Czech national brand, was born in… Moscow of all the places:
Never mind that LCBO omitted my favourite Kozel from the selection, even though, in my opinion, it beats in taste and “říz” all three of the featured Czech beers. They perpetrated the worst crime a Czech can imagine: after almost twenty years of a steady march of Czech Republic back to Europe where we belong (read: WESTERN Europe), LCBO put us with one swell stroke of a Photoshop brush back into the lap of Moscow. If the text in the picture on the left is too small for you to read, I’ll recap it for you:
Discover these delicious LCBO golden treasures from the land where pilsner was born. Savour…
If this doesn’t start a riot, it’s only because the Czechs are known as a ‘dove’ nation, and complaining about this over a glass of a chilled golden nectar makes far more sense than taking to the streets. After all, it’s only about beer – even though, where I come from, that would probably be a just cause to start a local pub brawl. Just imagine a photograph of the Egyptian pyramids with a caption: “Welcome to Tel-Aviv”.
So, here is a challenge for all you good Czechs living in Ontario: If you don’t feel like boycotting LCBO, you can write them at infoline@lcbo.com, pointing out their grave mistake, and ask them to publish a correction on both their web site and the next printed version of their advertising supplement. Until that happens, cheers!
Tags: English