5 Wives Vodka Banned in Idaho

Five Wives Vodka is not going to be permitted to ply their trade in the State of Idaho according to regulators. The vodka was named in bad taste and will not be stoked or special ordered in the State.

The vodka is made by Ogden distillery, which ironically, is based in Utah the same place as the Mormon church. The bottle shows five women and is obviously referencing polygamy, a practice abandoned by the Church many years ago.

More than 25% of Idaho’s population is Mormon said Idaho State Liquor Division administrator Jeff Anderson s and the brand is offensive to them.

Elite Spirits Distributors was alerted in a letter this week that their brand was “offensive to a prominent segment of our population and will not be carried,”

Anderson said,

“The bottom line is, we represent everybody, It’s masterful marketing on their part. But it doesn’t play here.”

Ogden is already turning the banning into a marketing gimmick, they have been giving away “Free the Five Wives” t-shirts and buttons.

Steve Conlin, a partner and marketing chief for Ogden’s Own Distillery pointed out that in Utah a State that is overwhelmingly Mormon the company has been doing really well and the State has made no attempts to ban the vodka.

Conlin said,

“We’re a little dumbfounded by it all. The average person can look at our bottle and they don’t find it offensive. It’s certainly not obscene, which is what it would require for it to be banned. We have a product that has sold nearly 1,000 cases in six months in Utah. If the reaction is because of a religious concern, we think they are extremely misguided.