The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Coppola cans the cork for his bubbly Sofia Mini

The first thing I thought when I read this article was "What next? Caviar and fillet mignon sold in Lunchables?" Interesting cultural trends: Francis Ford Coppola has a vision for champagne to go mainstream. So he puts it in bright fuschia colored cans with a straw taped to the side like a drink box and sells it in a 4-pack. Champagne has often been a metaphor or symbol. Champagne is consumed at celebrations. We don't drink champagne at funerals. It is not your daily dinner wine. We drink it at weddings for a toast. We drink it in the locker room after we have won the World Series or Super Bowl. When you get that big promotion at work, you break out the bubbly. You don't drink it at your 7th anniversary but you might at your 25th or 50th. Champagne has been the beverage of the wealthy. Historically it is an expensive wine in elegant looking bottles with calligraphy with gold leafing and a gold wrapper over the cork. Champagne is consumed in elegant stemware. Generally what do we think comes in a can? Beer or Soda. Cheap stuff. Although Guinness and Red Bull are not cheap, but you get the point. Even more so, what comes in boxes and is drunk with a straw? Kids drinks. This really is a bold marketing idea and says something about Coppola's understanding of the culture. I wonder if there is application to the church. People understand metaphors differently and no longer accept long held commonly accepted icons. Times are changing. How will the church incarnate the gospel in new ways for new people with new ideas?