With highest regards for Aine, I saw this story and felt that it had to form the a challenge for Mudcatters.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/0111/10/world/world21.html

Utah beer company's billboards produce an almighty brew-haha

By Candus Thomson, in Salt Lake City

Polygamy Porter tastes good. The question in Mormon-dominated Utah is whether the billboard advertising for the beer is in good taste.

Greg Schrif, the brewmaster and owner of Wasatch Beer, insists the slogans, "Why have just one?" and "Take some home for the wives", are in good fun.

But the Utah Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission and two local billboard companies disagree. The state agency has toyed with the idea of banning advertising that pokes fun at religion, while the billboard companies have refused to rent Mr Schrif space on their signs.

Although acquiring multiple wives has been illegal in Utah since 1890 - a ban required by the Federal Government as a condition for statehood - there are still pockets of practising polygamists. Civic leaders touting a cosmopolitan image consider it a sore point to bring up an activity once sanctioned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as the Mormons are formally known.

That Mr Schrif would poke fun at Utah's embarrassing history has developed into a row that is taking on Olympic proportions.

"They're being thick-headed," Mr Schrif says. "With everyone watching because of the Winter Olympics, they don't seem to realise they are drawing more attention to themselves. I couldn't pay for this kind of publicity."

But Reagan Outdoor Advertising, which had a one-year contract with Mr Schrif, is resolute.

"We just do not want to be associated in any way with anything that associates in any way with polygamy," the company president, Dewey Reagan, told the Salt Lake Tribune.

"The entire ad is offensive."

Seventy per cent of Utah residents are Mormons, following a religion that forbids the consumption of alcohol and frowns on caffeine. Government at all levels, including the liquor board, is dominated by church members.

Park City, home to Mr Schrif's Wasatch Brew Pub, is not so sober-minded. It is Utah's party central, a skiing town about 45 minutes outside Salt Lake City. It is the perfect place for beers such as Polygamy Porter and St Provo Girl ("If you just said 'Oh my heck', it's probably not for you").

And Mr Schrif, a fun-loving guy with a beer-barrel shape, is no stranger to controversy. He wrestled with state regulators to license microbreweries and brew pubs in the 1980s. Two years ago he successfully tangled with Winter Olympics organisers over his 2002 Unofficial Amber Ale.

"I'll never understand that one," he says. "Which part did they have licensed? 2002? Unofficial?"

For now, Mr Schrif is the life of the party, selling beer and merchandise on his Web site, www.utahbrewers.com and promoting Park City.

"I'm getting 400 online orders for T-shirts every day. The beer is flying off the shelves.

"The church has been too helpful - I should tithe 10 per cent. It's the only right thing to do."

The Baltimore Sun