The Handmaid's Tale wine collection canceled after backlash

People

After further consideration, Lot18 and MGM have decided to cancel their Handmaid's Tale-inspired wine collection, according to People magazine, which first announced the wine collection Tuesday morning in a report that was met with backlash on Twitter. “Can you turn rape into marketing copy?” tweeted New York Times TV critic Margaret Lyons. "Why the f*ck does The Handmaid’s Tale have a line of branded wines?" wrote Allison Shoemaker in the Takeout, pointing out that the wine collection will be using the names of characters assigned to them by Gilead. "This bears repeating: The Handmaid’s Tale can be great, but it is not fun," said Shoemaker. "It is not The Bachelorette or some sh*t. And sure, it often makes me want to drink. Heavily. But my god, branded wines? Over on Slate, Inkoo Kang thought up product tie-ins more offensive than Handmaid's Tale wines, including "Offred's Muzzle" and "'Handmaid in the Oven' Maternity Wear." Kang added that The Handmaid's Tale's real-life "tie-ins have been as tone-deaf as the show has felt timely: a clothing line inspired by those haunting red cloaks, a pink pen promising empowerment, and as of Tuesday, a new line of wines inspired by three of the show’s female characters...What genius do we have to thank for the ability to buy a bottle of Offred and discard her husk once we’re done with her insides?"