The vodka will be watered down — actually it will be water — but WeHo City Councilmembers John Duran and John D’Amico hope that the message will be clear.
To protest new anti-LGBT laws in Russia, Duran and D’Amico are inviting area bar owners to take part in a protest at Micky’s on Thursday at 11 a.m. Bottles of Stolichnaya Vodka (aka “Stoli”), which is being boycotted by many WeHo businesses, will be emptied into the gutter.
But don’t bother bringing tomato juice to mix with the runoff; the bottles will be filled with water. (Dumping vodka would run afoul of environmental rules.)
Stoli, the liquor brand that brought its “Most Original Stoli Guy” search to Micky’s earlier this month, is being targeted for the boycott because of its Russian ingredients. Some have opposed the boycott because the company’s headquarters is in Luxembourg, and its distillery is in Latvia.
In an open letter responding to the controversy, Stoli president Val Mendeleev touts the company as LGBT-friendly and stresses that it is not associated with the Russian government.
Russia’s new anti-LGBT legislation is attracting a lot of public scrutiny because the 2014 winter Olympics will be held in Sochi in February.
Funny thing about this is the Abbey and Eleven dont even offer Stoli anyway… but grandstanding with water in a bottle? What about boycotting Idaho Potatoes… Texas Beef, or the human rights violations in China… Lots of drama instead of diplomacy,.. i agree with the above comments.
I support a lot of what John D’Amico does…but this just doesn’t seem right. The vodka company is NOT owned by the Russian government, nor does it make the policies. That would be like someone being opposed to an American political policy and boycotting Pepsi (which by-the-way used to distribute Stoli). This stunt is flagrant grandstanding, which appears to be Councilmember Duran’s style of in-your-face PR for what purpose? Self-promotion? Like the fiasco with the Shaad family when Mr. Duran announced to the world that Brett had been taken off life-support, when in fact, he was still alive. This is… Read more »
There’s nobody happier than a WeHo Councilperson banning or boycotting something. And the fact they’re filling the bottles with water makes them appear like total enviro-weenies. It’s a silly publicity stunt … and we deserve better leadership.
And you’re doing the same thing Snarkygirl, Real LAME.
In other words, they are picking on a company that has a russian name, but is not made in Russia. Just another PR stunt to get themselves in the press. LAME!