This week, in perhaps the most literal example of political nannying ever, New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan vetoed a bill that would have allowed "images of minors to grace alcoholic beverage labels as long as they didn't encourage young people to drink." What this mainly meant was that Michigan's Founders Brewing would still not be allowed to sell its highly-regarded Breakfast Stout within her state's borders. Why? Because I guess she assumes—due to the cherubic baby on its label—that her constituents might think they're buying Gerber Baby Beer or something. Who knows. "Live free or die," so long as you don't want to drink a damn tasty coffee stout, huh?

But it's not the first beer label to raise controversy, with thousands of breweries releasing tens of thousands of beers each year, there's been plenty of other labels that have upset the Maggie Hassans of the world.

Bud Light (#UpForWhatever)

I never trust any brand's marketing campaign that is completely hashtaggable. Such was Bud Light's #UpForWhatever push. Sure, we all got to dream about someday getting to play live-action Donkey Kong against a real barrel-tossing ape, but we also got random taglines on our bottles that were like fortune cookies written by drunken fratboys. The worst one—"The perfect beer for removing 'no' from your vocabulary for the night."—had people calling it a little "rapey" and has pretty much torpedoed the once-popular campaign.

Pig Minds PD (Panty Dropper)

Pig's Mind Brewing Co.

In the same "rapey" genre of beer labels, comes a beer from Illinois's appropriately named Pig Minds Brewing. Last summer they released their PD California Style Ale. What does "PD" stand for you so innocently ask? Then I shove the bottle in your face and you see a woman with her drawers dropped in front of some fermentation tanks. Obviously, the Twittersphere exploded in outrage and mock outrage and probably even mock mock outrage. I'm not sure where I fell on the spectrum, I was mostly offended they call underwear "panties."

Flying Dog Raging Bitch

Flying Dog Brewery

Michiganders might not like New Hampshire banning one of their state's beers, but it's a little hypocritical. In 2009, Michigan Liquor Control Commission prevented Maryland's Flying Dog from selling their "We swear, we're just talking about a female dog here!" Raging Bitch within the state, calling it "detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare." One of America's most popular Belgian IPAs, the label features the iconic artwork of Hunter S. Thompson buddy Ralph Steadman. The ruling has since been overturned and Michiganders can now get their "Bitch" on.

Clown Shoes Tramp Stamp

Clown Shoes

The previous three labels almost makes Clown Shoe's debatable misogyny seem downright quaint. In 2011, a massive kerfuffle began when BeerAdvocate.com's director of events and promotions Candice Alstrom started a forum thread in which she called the Massachusetts brewery's labels—most notably Tramp Stamp—"tacky and borderline sexist or racist." Online debate ensued and the brewery even mocked the complainers on Facebook, jokingly noting they had decided to change the beer name to "Lower Back Tattoo." Whatever the case, the beer still has the same label today. Just like many of us still have our own regrettable tattoos. (I'm told it says "Pride" in Aramaic!)

The Lost Abbey Witch's Wit

The Lost Abbey

As surprised as you might have been over how strong of a lobby lower back tattoo enthusiasts have, you'd be stunned at the consumer power of witches. In a New York Times article from 2009 that should have won the Pulitzer Prize, Mark Oppenheimer tells the story of a woman "famous in the pagan and Wiccan communities" who "was not looking for controversy. Vicki Noble was just looking for a fine ale." Instead, Noble found a California beer depicting a witch being burned at the stake on its label. She complained—"Can we stop this brewer from their hate imagery?"—and The Lost Abbey capitulated to her demands. You know, I don't believe in witches, but I'm kinda with The Lost Abbey—not worth taking a chance.

New England Brewing Co. Gandhi-Bot

New England Brewing Company

Then there's Gandhi-Bot, a well-regarded canned IPA that has been produced by this Connecticut brewery for the last five years. Locals had all enjoyed this fairly limited beer with no greater complaint than "Please make more!" until earlier this year when someone in India finally decided to Google wacky American beer names. A lawsuit filed in the country claimed Gandhi-Bot dishonored the great peace advocate Mahatma Gandhi (who was absolutely not a robot). The brewery agreed and has since decided to change the name, though to what, we do not know yet. Might I suggest...Goldfarb-Bot? I swear I won't be offended.

New England Brewing Co. Imperial Stout Trooper

New England Brewing Company

Getting an entire country of 1.25 billion people mad was small potatoes compared to getting the great George Lucas angry. But that's just what happened with another New England Beer Co. offering which depicted an iconic Star Wars storm trooper on its label. Georgey boy might have never found out except the rare stout got incredibly popular amongst beer traders of the time. In 2009, Lucasfilm sent NEBCO a cease and desist order (which they proudly display in their tasting room). Thankfully, the wrath of the great Sith Lord never came down, as the brewery rectified the issue by cheekily throwing Groucho Marx glasses onto future labels.

Shorts Hangin' Frank

Short's Brewing Company

Finally, there's Shorts from Michigan who in 2010 released a beer that, well, depicts a man having hung himself. Or maybe someone else hung him, who knows, it's kind of hard to get a full narrative arc from a mere beer label. You might not be surprised by this, but people complained! They really did. Some people even thought the hand of the hanging man was clearly meant to be African-American. Not surprisingly...actually, surprisingly, Shorts still released the beer, though they now made the hand clearly Caucasian. Of course, two years later, they did finally cave, renamed the beer ControversiALE, and made the label artwork bland and boring. Smart. In fact, all breweries should really just start putting their beers in the same kind of cans the Dharma Initiative used. Much safer.

Aaron Goldfarb Aaron Goldfarb lives in Brooklyn and is a novelist and the author of 'Hacking Whiskey.'

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