Blame It on the Bucky!: The Positioning of Buckfast Tonic Wine between Acceptability and Transgression
Commercialised as a product made by the Benedictine monks of Buckfast Abbey, Buckfast Tonic Wine adds an image of piety to the medicinal argument suggested by the legally authorized mention “tonic wine” and by its former mode of distribution in chemist’s shops. However, despite this highly respectab...
Enregistré dans:
| Dans: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/ilcea, |
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| Auteur principal: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Langue: | Anglais |
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ILCEA
2014
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| Accès en ligne: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Résumé: | Commercialised as a product made by the Benedictine monks of Buckfast Abbey, Buckfast Tonic Wine adds an image of piety to the medicinal argument suggested by the legally authorized mention “tonic wine” and by its former mode of distribution in chemist’s shops. However, despite this highly respectable dual connotation of health and spirituality, Buckfast has become the drink of choice for disaffected youths in Central Scotland, and Buckfast consumption has become associated with anti-social street drinking and violence since the 1990s. In order to contrast the criticism linked to the product’s transgressive re-appropriation with the vigorous defence of the product offered by the manufacturers, we shall examine the discourses which have informed the debate. In reaction to the youths who vaunt the tonic wine or the politicians who have sought to limit its impact, the monks have remained largely silent in recent years. Instead, the notion of the acceptability of Buckfast is promoted via the press by J. Chandler & Co. (Buckfast) Ltd, the independent firm which markets and distributes the drink. In particular, its representatives highlight the absence of any advertising, which is presented as proof of the corporate responsibility of Buckfast’s producers and distributors. |
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