The beer that became very popular in France after a summons from Yoko Ono, John Lennon's widow
Following a summons sent by Yoko Ono – the widow of John Lennon, the lead singer of The Beatles -, a French brewery sold several thousand “John Lemon” beers in just a few days, which it will no longer be able to market after July 1, this producer announced on Tuesday.
Five years ago, that brewery was looking for a name for an assortment of ginger-lemon blonde ales. “We thought 'John Lemon' was a cool name,” said Aurelien Picard, owner of the Brasserie de l'imprimerie in Bannalec, a town in western France, reports France Presse and Agerpres.
“We're a brewery that's been around for 10 years and we make puns with the names of our beers,” he explained.
In this producer's catalog, there can be noted a “scented blonde” beer called “Jean-Gol Potier”, alluding to the famous fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier, a “smuggled brown” beer called “Mireille Mafieux” and referring to a famous French singer, as well as a “smearing red” beer called “Yvette Orniere”, reminiscent of a famous accordionist, all accompanied by imitation drawings appearance of these personalities.
But at the end of March, a Dutch law firm issued a summons to the brewery to stop marketing the John Lemon variety, or risk paying large fines to Yoko Ono's foundation, which aims to protect John Lennon's image.
“Fines of 100,000 euros and penalties ranging from 150 to 1,000 euros per day were mentioned if we did not act in accordance with their claim, if we did not stop. Basically, they asked us to withdraw all our products from sale and to immediately stop the distribution of the brand that was protected,” reported Aurelien Picard.
Eventually, after an exchange of letters, the brewer, which sells its products to wineries, grocery stores and restaurants within a 40-kilometer radius, got permission to sell its 5,000 bottles still in stock by July 1.
But the publicity generated by this scandal accelerated its sales: most of the beers in question were sold in just a few days.
“It was crazy. We had less than 1,000 bottles left. There was something rather funny about the misfortune that befell us,” revealed Aurelien Picard.
This brewer, which has two employees and sells between 50,000 and 80,000 bottles a year, is now looking for a new name for its range of refreshing blonde ales. He wanted to call her “Jaune Lemon”, but the Dutch lawyers told him that “that name was too close to John and that any visual allusion to Mr. John Lennon was prohibited”, the French entrepreneur added.
