Is the world ready for Churro wine?

Is it paws-ible to successfully market wine by selling it to pet owners?

Churro, the blog’s associate editor, saw the news release first. “What kind of marketing foolery is this?” he asked. “I count four horrible puns in the first couple of graphs, including that wretched ‘paws-ible’ – and I’m a dog and I can’t read or count.”

The subject of Churro’s ire was an email from a marketing company that was pushing a winery called Bar Dog, which is offering custom labels featuring – you guessed it – your “cute and cuddly canine kids” just in time for National Puppy Day later this month.

“Now, Churro,” I said, “let’s not get too worked up about this. You know what happens then – you run around WC World Headquarters yipping and yapping and scratching up the rug in the front room. And at least they didn’t spell canine with a k.”

“I can’t believe you’re sticking up for this,” Churro said. “This is usually the kind of thing that sends you into a 350-word rant.”

“Now, I didn’t exactly say I was sticking up for it,” I said. “You’re right — it is entirely too cute. And the world certainly doesn’t need any more pet pictures on Instagram, which the marketers seem to be urging everyone to do. Plus, the two-bottle minimum does seem like a stretch — $30 worth of wine plus shipping for something no one will likely drink. But a rant?”

Churro snorted. “Do I have to do everything around here? If my picture is going to go on a wine label, I want it to be on damned good wine – not something that is described as ‘handcrafted’ and ‘affordable.’ Which, as you have pointed out many times on the blog, are often marketing-speak for plonky wine.”

So no, there probably won’t be a Churro wine, despite the offer in the release to do one for the blog. My associate editor won’t sit for it.