Dixie Beer wants your help to find a ‘more inclusive’ name for the New Orleans brewery
The Dixie Brewing Company wants the public’s help in choosing a new name that reflects a “more inclusive, culturally aware and socially conscious future” for the New Orleans-based brewery.
The company is seeking original ideas from beer lovers as it works to rebrand the business, FOX 8 reported. The public is encouraged to submit suggestions via an online form on the Dixie Beer website.
“Dixie Beer has always been about bringing people together, so we want to hear from you,” a message on the suggestion page reads. “Have a name suggestion? Join us on our journey to make the next 113 years as special as the past 113 years (have) been.”
Beer enthusiasts have until Friday, Sept. 25, to submit pitches and explain why it would be the best fit.
The brewery is the latest brand moving to drop “Dixie” from its name following a nationwide push to rid products, businesses and even supermarket chains of racist symbols and imagery after the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd, 46. Floyd, an unarmed Black man, died in police custody on Memorial Day after a police officer knelt on his neck for about eight minutes as three other officers failed to intervene.
The word “Dixie” has had racial underpinnings for some — it’s a nickname for the Southern Confederate states that sought to defend slavery in the Civil War.
While its name is “firmly rooted in the French ‘Dix’ note and Dixieland Jazz,” the Dixie Brewing Company acknowledged that the word has come to have “negative connotations” that are “indefensible.” Company leadership also cited national conversations about racism and social injustice as a motivating reason for rebranding, the brewery said Monday, according to FOX 8.
The company announced plans for a name change back in June in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests, Eater New Orleans reported.
“Community is at the heart of why we do what we do, and we thrive on the idea of our beer bringing people together,” brewery manager Jim Birch said in a statement. “Our name must speak to the diversity of the city we call home as we encourage unity and inclusivity in New Orleans and across the country.”
Earlier this month, the brewery unveiled its new “Black is Beautiful” lager in partnership with the Weathered Souls Brewing Company of San Antonio. The initiative donated to a New Orleans nonprofit and aimed to highlight “the injustices people of color face daily,” according to a news release.
The company said it hopes to announce its new name by mid-October with a brand rollout by Mardi Gras 2021.
“The top 4 or 5 names will be trademark searched first to ensure no existing conflicts,” Birch told McClatchy News. “Then we’ll attach rough graphics for each, and finally market test with 500+ survey participants.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 10:55 AM.