No sex and alcohol please, we're British

Independent Distillers Group has been forced to pull condoms bearing the Vodka Mudshake and Vodka Twistee Shots logo off United Kingdom shelves after an industry-sponsored watchdog group found they linked alcohol with sexual success.

The condoms were distributed as free promotional items by Independent's UK division.

Roger Smith, sales and marketing director, said Independent would not make any comment on the UK promotion, but noted that the condoms had been out of circulation since last September.

Independent had assured watchdog The Portman Group it would pull the condom promotion by February 1 at the latest.

"We weren't selling condoms. They were trade give-aways," said Smith. "The UK took exception to them."

Portman chief executive Jean Coussins said the condom give-away broke the UK drinks industry code of practice.

"The code rule is clear that an alcoholic drink should not associate itself directly or indirectly with sexual success and makes no exceptions for condoms carrying drinks branding," Coussins said at the time of the ruling in late December.

Independent Distillers owes much of its success here to the popularity of ready-to-drink cocktails such as Vodka Mudshake and others and of discount European-branded beers.

Independent's UK division and its other Northern Hemisphere divisions are currently the subject of a company review.

Since the death of founder Michael Erceg in a helicopter crash last November, the local liquor industry has been abuzz with speculation on the company's fate.

The future of Independent's offshore divisions in the UK and Canada was called into question earlier this month when it was reported they were being readied for sale.

Smith has since denied that assertion, saying the company has yet to make a decision on their fate.

"At this stage, the review is still going on," he said yesterday.