Alcohol Distributors Hire PR Firm to Take Money out of Tennessean’s Hands and Line Own Pockets

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Specialty Wine Retailers Association (SWRA) today sent a letter to State Senator Doug Jackson asking him to oppose alcohol wholesalers’ cynical effort to take millions in tax revenue away from the State in an attempt to line their own pockets. The letter further asked Senator Jackson to call attention to the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of Tennessee’s (WSWT) use of a PR Firm to anonymously influence legislation concerning consumer wine sales.

“This kind of backdoor, anonymous attempt to increase wholesaler profits by killing legislation that allows safe access to wines from across the country is the most cynical kind of politics that needs to be brought to light and opposed”

The WSWT have engaged Seigenthaler PR to create a website opposing safe consumer access to wine, yet WSWT isn’t mentioned anywhere as the backers of the “stopteendrinkingtn.org” website. Instead, the website implies it is part of an effort by law enforcement and public officials.

“This kind of backdoor, anonymous attempt to increase wholesaler profits by killing legislation that allows safe access to wines from across the country is the most cynical kind of politics that needs to be brought to light and opposed,” said SWRA Executive Director Tom Wark in the letter.

“SB 2686, while allowing Tennesseans to order only wine from out of state sources and including significant safeguards against minor access, is opposed by the wholesalers because those small number of shipments of wine won’t land any money in the Tennessee wholesalers’ pockets,” wrote Wark. The letter continues, “The Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of Tennessee’s anonymous efforts to use PR spin is particularly cynical when you consider that just as the state, like so many others, is in the midst of a budget crunch and anticipating cuts, this bill would deliver more than $10,000,000 in tax revenue to the state, likely allowing a number of programs to stay funded.”

Contrary to the opinions of the Supreme Court and the Federal Trade Commission, the WSWT’s anonymously funded website suggests minors will use the Internet to buy expensive bottles of wine. Yet the website does not mention that the vast majority of alcohol obtained by minors first goes through the hands of Tennessee’s own wholesalers, not through the Internet.

SWRA is a national organization of consumers and wine merchants who oppose laws that discriminate against consumers and retailers in favor of regulations only benefiting special interests. SWRA supports passage of SB 2686.