A couple weeks ago, I wrote about an Olympia Brewery who were making a beer named after Clint Dempsey. Although “Deuce Juice” had a name that was easy enough to make fun of, Sounders fans seemed mostly intrigued by the Three Magnets Brewing Co. offering.
MLS and the Sounders? Not so much. Apparently, the brewery received a cease-and-desist notice, which shouldn’t be entirely surprising as any trademark lawyer worth their retainer would have a field day with the branding.
With the beer already brewed and the the company likely wanting to make sure to get it out into market in time to ride the playoff wave, they quickly renamed it. This was the result (it’s a “smoothie-style” beer):
The beer formally known as Deuce Juice out in the wild. pic.twitter.com/zixz5zRu1C
— Champion Crystal (@CrystalKWang) November 29, 2017
It should come as little surprise that Sounders fans had very mixed feelings about their main hashtag (actually created by @McNarnia) being co-opted without their permission and let the brewery know. To their credit, though, Three Magnets appears to be trying to smooth things over.
MLS asked us to change Duece Juice label after already brewed, literally two hours before labels went to print. Scrambled to design new label to support our team. Didn't think of a hashtag as being intelectual property. @WeAreECS if your property, contact us so we can make right.
— Three Magnets (@3MagBrewing) November 29, 2017
This all seems like a reasonable — if misguided — misunderstanding. While Three Magnets can be faulted for co-opting something organic, they do seem to be genuine Sounders fans who make generally well regarded beer. Here’s hoping a reasonable detente can be reached.