Update

Lulu B. lives. 

Well, not really. She’s just a line drawing on a wine label.  But the mother, so to speak, of Lulu B. actually answered my email a few weeks ago.  Karen Anne Maley is a savvy marketing wiz who works for a company called Kruger Wine and Spirits, and she’s pretty much the brains behind the label.

This is not the same thing as being the brains inside the bottle.  As a rule, those creds go to winemakers.  But it takes a certain pizzazz to get a winemaker’s labors into the mouths of the public, and Ms. Maley has plenty of pizzazz to share.

When her company acquired Lulu B. wine it was marketed the traditional way – to men.  This bored Ms. Maley. But she liked the name.  So, handed a product with such an enticing moniker, she went right to work.

“More than 65 percent of the people who buy wine priced below $10 are women,” she said.  “And when are women usually drinking wine?  With their girlfriends.”

Maley launched a complete marketing redesign, and came up with the curvy, friendly young woman on the label.  “I usually don’t like it when wine companies try to market to me,” she said. (Neither do I.)  “The graphics always show a 25-year-old, skinny, hipless woman who looks like she works for Ad Age in San Francisco or New York.” (Oooh, I hate that.  Even though I don’t regularly read Ad Age.)

The new Lulu scored crazy high on likeability tests, and the bottles flew off the shelf.  Score one for the curvy girl!  In fact, the brand is so girlishly likeable, Kruger is launching a line of Lulu B. cocktails, a collection of fanciful, low-cal treats like margaritas and chocolate martinis.  These are not exactly my cup of tea.  When it comes to cocktails, I say go big or go home.  A martini is supposed to be the hard-core heavy-duty boozy choice of people like James Bond.  Low-cal should not be an option.

However, not everyone is a Bond.  James Bond.  There are lots of Mary Goodnights and Pussy Galores out there, too, who will enjoy an occasional chocolate martini, or a nice glass of red wine.  Read the label.  Lulu B. “pairs well with girlfriends.”  Amen.