American Socialism for the Rich

I’m sure most of you reading this blog have heard by now of the conflict between the Monster Energy Drink Corporation and Rock Art Brewery in Morrisville.  Last month, Monster sent a letter to Rock Art demanding that they discontinue use of the name ‘Vermonster’ for one of their beers, because it could be confused with ‘Monster.’  You might now be saying to yourself, “Wait, Monster is an energy drink, not a beer?” Yes, but Monster wants to get in the beer business and doesn’t want confusion when they do.  For Rock Art to fight this battle in the courts would lead them to bankruptcy, so local-brew fans in Vermont have rallied in their support by sending letters to Monster, forming a Facebook group, signing an online petition and most importantly, despite a financial loss, many Vermont beverage distributors have pulled all Monster products from their shelves.  Below is a video of Rock Art owner Matt Nadeau explaining the situation.