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British supermarket Marks and Spencer has been forced to change the name of a canned pornstar martini cocktail following receipt of a single complaint.
The Guardian reports that the drink’s name “breached an industry code linking alcohol to sexual activity.” The U.K.’s alcohol watchdog, the Portman Group stated that the drink, which retailed at £2.25 “contravenes the Portman Code” breaching section 3.2d wherein an alcoholic product “suggests any association with sexual activity or sexual success.”
The product’s release last autumn coincided with one report announcing it as the U.K.’s favourite — or at least most-ordered — cocktail. The drink which includes passion fruit juice, vanilla, and vodka was invented by bartender Douglas Ankrah at The Townhouse bar in Knightsbridge, London, in 2002. He named it so because it was, he said, “something that a porn star would drink. It’s pure indulgence, sexy, fun and evocative.”
The drink will be rebranded the passion star martini, with a Marks and Spencer spokesperson stating: “Porn Star Martini is a common name for a passion fruit cocktail drink. Our product launched in September 2018 and quickly became one of our most popular cocktails. However, as a Portman Group co-signatory, we respect the ruling and will be changing the name to Passion Star Martini.”
Despite appearing as something of a setback — one is forced to assume that one name is catchier that the other — Marks and Spencer’s food and beverage department will welcome the coverage; by both accident and design, it has become a gifted manipulator of the news cycle. In the past year, it has created an LGBT sandwich, a biryani wrap, and been the beneficiary of MP Diane Abbott’s tube-moijto indiscretion.
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