Headline: Wine (or Whine?)
I’ve never met a headline editor. But they do exist, particularly at the large media organizations. When you consider that headline scanning is the preferred method of consuming media it becomes clear just how important the message of a headline is.
Below are headlines attached to the same Associated Press story that ran across the web and in numerous newspapers yesterday and today. Michelle Locke’s story concerns the wine trade pact that the EU and the US are trying to hammer out. It’s interesting how mocking of the Europeans these headlines are. Also, there’s every indicatiion that the variety of word plays one can apply to wine is, well, limited.
US-EU wine agreement subject of debate
Wine agreement has lawmakers in EU seeing red
Fine wines come between US, Europe
European officials debate wine pact
Wine pact causes whining in EU
Fine whines US-EU trade deal subject of debate
California wine market growing
EU lawmakers see sour grapes in wine trade deal with US
EU uncorks anger over US wine pact
Wine trade agreement produces clash over tradition, technology
Europeans pop their cork over New World winemaking
US wines make gains, waves in Europe
Old World Irate Over Wine Deal
Europeans whine over US wine trade agreement
Trade pact spurs debate over wine and wood chips
EU lawmakers abuzz over wine trade deal with US
US-Euro Wine Agreement Has Some Fuming
Wow, those are all hotlinks, too.
Did you read the part about certain wines being “grandfathered” into using Euro names? Namely crappy jug wines because of the might of the corporate lawyers.
Congratulations to Carlos Rossi and his headache inducing Red Mountain Burgundy. You won’t need those “Hillbilly Red” labels afterall.