Think of it as a behind-the-bar brawl.
As the hardreading staff has previously noted, the Total Wine chain of liquor stores has dropped a bundle over the past two years on full-page ads in the Boston Globe, sometimes cheek-by-jowl with critical coverage of the retailer’s attempts to change state alcohol rules nationwide to work more in the chain’s favor.
(For a lively debate in this space about whether the Globe should have disclosed its financial connection to Total Wine in those news reports, see here.)
Regardless, Total Wine had pretty much the run of the stately local broadsheet until last Thursday, when this ad appeared on page A16.
Here’s the body copy in the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlet ad.
Something all serious winemakers and distillers have in common is great pride in their work. Read the label – they’re very eager to tell you all about their history, their traditions, their culture. Oh, it’s not on there? Maybe
you’re looking at one of Total Wine’s private-label “house brands” from an unidentified source.
At New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets, you will find brands you know and trust at everyday low prices.
Whoa – that’s some serious liquor store shade, no?
This being Boston, we expected a serious smashmouth response, but here’s what appeared on page A3 of yesterday’s Globe.
Average savings of six bucks vs. New Hampshire prices?
That’s all you got, Total Wine?
Total Wimp is more like it.
It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town 