{"id":457,"date":"2020-01-26T17:05:52","date_gmt":"2020-01-26T17:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friekens.nl\/i-p-a-hermerkt\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T19:12:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T17:12:06","slug":"i-p-a-rebranded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friekens.nl\/en\/i-p-a-rebranded\/","title":{"rendered":"I.P.A. rebranded following protest of upset Hindu"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Amsterdam craft brewery Friekens proudly presents the newly designed label of its India Pale Ale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s the result of a chain of events started by a press release issued in May 2019 by \u2018Hindu statesman\u2019 Rajan Zed from Reno, Nevada, U.S.A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the press release Zed, flying the flag of the \u2018Universal Society of Hinduism\u2019, stated that the use of the image of Ganesh on the label of Friekens\u2019 I.P.A. is \u2018highly inappropriate\u2019. According to him linking a deity to an alcoholic beverage is \u2018very disrespectful\u2019 and \u2018deeply trivializing\u2019 of \u2018immensely venerated\u2019 Ganesh, in the meantime implying he was speaking on behalf of Hinduism\u2019s 1.1 billion adherents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The press release got picked up by Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool<\/a>, which published an article on its website, and asked the brewery to comment. It stated, by word of a startled associate, that it never meant to offend anyone, that an apology would be issued and that the label would be removed from the website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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the old label …<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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… and the new one<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

On its website, Friekens Brouwerij advertised its I.P.A. as a \u2018nectar of the gods\u2019 that\u2019s \u2018an almost transcendental apparition of intense taste experience\u2019, and \u2018beer that Ganesh, the sympathetic Hindu deity with the elephant\u2019s head, looks down upon in inebriated benevolence\u2019. After the protest, Ganesh was blurred on the label as shown on the site, and the reference in the text was blacked out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rajan Zed immediately issued a triumphant new press release, which by and large repeated his former, adding that companies should have their \u2018senior executives\u2019 trained in religious and cultural sensitivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friekens, truly a micro<\/em>-brewery, doesn\u2019t have such a management structure, and isn\u2019t planning on getting one. I.P.A. got brewed only once up to then. Only now it returns to Friekens\u2019 assortment, with its new label. Although this again sports a fat bloke with an elephant\u2019s head, it\u2019s explicitly not<\/em> Ganesh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friekens I.P.A., meanwhile, is as tasty as before, and will undoubtedly be favoured by all deities, of any religion, and their followers alike!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further reading<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Beer and religion:
A heady brew<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Friekens Brouwerij is not the first brewery sporting an image of an Indian deity on the label of its India Pale Ale, and certainly won\u2019t be the last. It\u2019s a pretty obvious choice, after all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018They\u2019re like comic book figures\u2019, sais a spokesperson of GRAFX MFG, Friekens Brouwerij\u2019s Amsterdam graphic design studio. \u2018Nice drawings, colorful, four, six, eight or even more arms and legs, instantly recognizable as Indian.\u2019 Especially Ganesh, the sympathetic Hindu deity with the elephant head, is popular among beer brewers. \u2018You could say there\u2019s some convergence with alcohol and elephants.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That a pressure group would be upset about the use of Ganesh on the label of Friekens I.P.A. came as a surprise. But if reproaches are religiously motivated, one should tread carefully. We\u2019ve all seen images of outraged flag burning masses of bearded (mostly) men demanding compensation for the wrongs they or what they believe to be holy have been done. \u2018It\u2019s strange how the religious always require respect for their faith, but hardly ever seem to be willing to do likewise for other beliefs or convictions.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friekens Brouwerij was targeted by the Universal Society of Hinduism. \u2018Darn, that\u2019s something! A Universal Society! Doesn\u2019t that suggest this organization not only represents the 1.1 billion Hindus here on earth, but also those across the universe? God (\u2026) only knows how many are out there!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This couldn\u2019t be further from the truth, because the USofH is \u2018not a membership organization\u2019. It\u2019s the vehicle of Rajan Zed, self-declared \u2018Hindu statesman\u2019 from Reno, Nevada, USA. And it\u2019s not the first time this one man action group been at it, as some googling learns. Friekens indeed wasn\u2019t the first, a lot of micro breweries came up with the same idea. Images of Hindu deities also appeared on door mats, duvet covers, and leggings. Shoe company Converse printed the cover of Jimi Hendrix\u2019 Axis: Bold As Love, on which the nimble guitarist is pictured amidst Hindu deities, on its All Stars sneakers (The album cover has been banned in Malaysia since 2012).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zed always follows the same procedure; he issues press releases in which he takes offense and leaves it to (local) media to fuel the outrage and have the perpetrators express remorse. More often than not, Zed quickly gets what he wants this way, the product is discontinued and excuses are made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018If it were up to me, he wouldn\u2019t have gotten his way. I\u2019m with Richard Dawkins, who sees religion as a delusion. There\u2019s no need to have respect for that. If anything, pity, maybe. And it\u2019s not like Hinduism is one of the most pleasant religions out there, just take a look at what\u2019s ailing Modi\u2019s India.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Cultural appropriation? No, I\u2019m not that woke<\/em>. In a globalized world, culture will be appropriated back and forth. To me it\u2019s public domain. It\u2019s not as if India doesn\u2019t borrow from Western culture as well, and in India you see deities depicted on all kinds of businesses, like banks, workshops, and restaurants.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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‘Gaddha’ has a personal message for Rajan Zed, which he shows by means of a hand gesture.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I think a deity on a beer label is fair game. Indeed, religion and Friekens Brouwerij do have a fair bit in common: they\u2019re both in the business of opiate for the masses! But the decision wasn’t mine to make, so Ganesh had to go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018That\u2019s why on the new label we also have an obese dude with what appears to be an elephant\u2019s head, but it explicitly is not<\/em> Ganesh. If anything we have sort of a hybrid holyness here. A combination of Buddha and Ganesh. Bunesh as it were, or better yet: Gaddha. Inna Gaddha Da Vida, Baby!<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Opinions expressed by GRAFX MFG are not necessarily endorsed by Friekens Brouwerij.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who is Rajan Zed?
What is the Universal Society of Hinduism?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n