Belgium is showing us food protectionism at its silliest. Belgian customs officials have destroyed than 2,000 cans of the beer Miller High Life at the behest of the champagne lobby. The Comité Champagne—a trade association representing "the common interests of Champagne houses and growers"—objected to Miller High Life's slogan: "The Champagne of Beers."
Miller High Life has used this slogan for more than a century. It is clearly a metaphor meant to denote the (alleged) high quality of Miller High Life beer, not to mislead consumers into thinking that the beer is literally champagne.
