AB-InBev sends town crier to craft brewer with cease and desist order

Lo and behold, AB-InBev’s lawyers have a sense of humour. After the small craft brewer Modist from Minneapolis, Minnesota, started selling a Double IPA called “Dilly Dilly” on 1 December 2017 – which mocks the recent Bud Light ad campaign wherein medieval monarchs toast while uttering (the copyrighted phrase) “dilly dilly” in unison – AB-InBev felt compelled to issue a cease and desist order at around lunchtime the same day.

In keeping with the medieval theme of the Bud campaign, AB-InBev sent a town crier, dressed in period clothes, to deliver the writ.

Also called a bellman, a town crier was an officer of the court in the Middle Ages, who made public announcements as required by the court.

The incident only came to light after Modist posted it on its Facebook page. Reportedly, the crier shouted as he read from a scroll: “We are duly flattered by your loyal tribute, however, Dilly Dilly is the motto of our realm and so we humbly ask that you keep this to a limited-edition, one-time-only run.” He added: “Disobedience shall be met with additional scrolls, then a formal warning, and finally, a private tour of the Pit of Misery. Please send a raven, letter or electronic mail to let us know that you agree to this request.”

Conciliatorily, AB-InBev presented the brewery with two tickets for the next Super Bowl, which takes place in Minneapolis in February 2018.

Modist, which was only founded in 2016, felt amused and flattered by how AB-InBev had handled what might have been an ugly situation.

According to local media, Modist has already changed the name of the beer to Coat Tails, and has hung the scroll on the wall.