"As a business we're obsessed with product placements and showing up in cool places," is how talent & growth dir Steve Vigilante explained to us Olipop's penchant for making appearances with A-listers of sort routinely cultivated by Coke and Pepsi, the deep-pocketed targets of co's gut pops. That strategy seems to have delivered big-time with recent premiere of music video in which Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice build further momentum for cultural juggernaut pegged to Barbie the Movie, with Barbie the Album due on Jul 21 on Atlantic Records. The 2-minute video includes extended segment in which cans of Olipop's Strawberry Vanilla flavor swirl thru the air, eventually landing in hands of bare-chested hunky guys who drain them with choreographed precision as pink jet skis surf thru puffy clouds. Director was Hannah Lux Davis, premier name in genre who also works with Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Avril Lavigne and Christina Aguilera. Tho venture-backed Olipop is by no means devoid of resources, the brand's Gen Z appeal seems to be helping it garner entrée to properties that might seem out of reach to early-stage brands, in same way Prime Hydration seems to have wangled a discounted Super Bowl ad a few months ago (BBI, Feb 10). On smaller scale, Swoon canned lemonades have also harnessed Barbie juggernaut with limited-time flavor (BBI, Apr 21).

Plenty of openings to kick off the summer. San Diego Union Trib article points to a whopping 13 new brewpubs and tasting rooms coming to the city. That includes new Karl Strauss Brewing outpost expected to open this month in San Marcos, its 6th in the county and 9th overall. And Novo Brazil will look to open its 6th spot by Nov, a 10K sq-ft space in Westfield Mission Valley Mall.

Canadian NA brand Partake is "selling close to $20 million in revenue per year and growing," founder Ted Fleming told Forbes in recent profile. Recall, most of its biz comes from core Canada mkt, and Partake previously raised over $20 mil (see Mar 8, 2022 issue). But that's a long way from co's Kickstarter campaign to get things off the ground in 2017. The brand's seen success with its variety 12pk in "retailers like Whole Foods," Ted added, featuring 3 core products and 1 special release. Partake also launched a visual rebrand this summer.

Now it's spirits' turn. Washington law allows in-state distillers to ship directly to in-state consumers and to self-distribute to in-state retailers. But that unconstitutionally discriminates against out-of-state distillers, according to lawsuit filed in fed ct in WA late last mo. Brought by some of the same plaintiffs' attys, led by James Tanford and Robert Epstein, the new suit follows the same basic outline as the complaint they filed in Oregon on behalf of 3 WA brewers and a couple of in-state consumers last yr. Recall, after clearing up some technical issues around who the proper defendants were, OR settled that suit, opening up both DTC beer shipments and self-distribution there. Will WA's restrictions on shipping spirits be the next shoe to drop? (This article appeared yesterday in sibling pub INSIGHTS Express.)

Craft producers and their trade orgs aren't the only voices calling on the TTB to more clearly define and better enforce fed trade practice regs. Another gov't body came out swinging for small alc bev makers this wk, echoing many of their perceived competitive concerns. US Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy joined around 175 other commenters to weigh in on TTB's proposed trade practice rulemaking as this weekend's deadline looms. Its detailed letter tracks closely to small brewer (and distiller) comments, as well as previous comments from trade orgs like the Brewers Assn. SBA Advocacy arm cites small biz complaints about category management and venue sponsorships, both physical and digital slotting fees, plus "an enforcement problem" with existing regs.

A budding local brewer took over the San Diego facility formerly occupied by Kings & Convicts and Saint Archer before that. Fall Brewing purchased pretty much all the equipment from Kings & Convicts for an undisclosed price, brand manager Kevin Jackson shared with CBN, adding roughly 60K bbls of capacity at the Miramar facility. Tho it doesn't own the building, Fall Brewing will take over roughly 30-40K sq-ft of the 60K sq-ft space, including brewery and tasting room. Deal closed in Apr and was "completely turnkey," Kevin added, with Fall already brewing out of its new home.

CA brewery execs tend to stick in-state even when they change cos these days. Firestone Walker hired former Lagunitas head of sales Tony Amaral to join as new chief sales officer, co announced last week. This marks co's official CSO replacement for former exec Dave Macon, who now works as CSO for CA-based Jiant Hard Kombucha. Tho Firestone also promoted Kristen Demergian to "Head of Sales" position officially in Jan 2023 (see Vol 13, No 55). Meanwhile, Lagunitas has been without an official head of sales since Jun as sales continue to decline in the US.

World's #2 brewer will soon have a new chief commercial officer. Current Heineken cco James Thompson will retire from full-time exec work on Aug 31, tho he'll remain an advisor to the exec board until he leaves the company at yr end, co announced. He'll be succeeded by Bram Westenbrink starting Sep 1, promoted from within to join exec team and report directly to ceo Dolf van den Brink.