No MOTÖRHEAD Wine For Icelanders, Says State Alcohol And Tobacco Company

February 11, 2012

According to IceNews, the State Alcohol and Tobacco Company of Iceland (ÁTVR),which has a monopoly in sales of alcohol in Iceland, has refused to sell a red wine marketed under the branding of the heavy rock band MOTÖRHEAD. The decision was taken because the name is apparently a nod to amphetamine abuse and because the band sings about war, unsafe sex and drugs.

Hjörleifur Árnason, the wine's Icelandic importer, has now appealed the case to the parliamentary ombudsman.

Although ÁTVR has a monopoly on alcohol retail in Iceland, importers and distributors are able to deal directly with bars, restaurants and cafés; meaning the MOTÖRHEAD brand could still be sold in the country and can now expect a higher profile following this controversy.

The English word "Motorhead" is a slang term for an amphetamine addict and furthermore the band sings about war, abuse of power, irresponsible sex and substance abuse, ÁTVR said.

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).