Annals of Wine Marketing #1 - Italian Swiss Colony
If you were ever within 10 feet of a TV in the ‘60s, chances are
you became familiar with a tag line from one of the most successful wine
producers of the era.
“That little old winemaker, me!”
The wine, of course, was Italian Swiss Colony. TLOW was
portrayed by Ludwig Stossel, an Austrian actor who fled Europe when the Nazis came
to power in 1933 (Jim Backus of Mr. Magoo fame provided the voice). Apple-cheeked
and lederhosen-clad, TLOW and his pals hinted at old-world Alpine charm within
every bottle. The older
commercials even featured yodeling. We couldn’t find any of those. Here, instead, is Glenn Yarbrough singing about the love that makes the wine grapes
grow.
By 1970, the company had said auf wiedersehen to maedchen in
dirndls and howdy to poncho-wearing hippies on the beach.
Another wardrobe change in 1975 - to “satin pantsuits and see-through
blouses,” Dick Cavett impersonators and the world of urban sophisticates. And... Ruby Chablis?
The company has an interesting back story. The Italian Swiss
Colony was launched in part as an intentional community, as much social
experiment as business enterprise. Learn more of the fascinating history here. The wine company eventually was chopped up, chewed and spit out in a number of beverage-industry
mergers and acquisitions and is no more. But you can apparently still visit the
place in Sonoma County where it all began.
VS
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