Up until two days ago, I’d never heard of “Jeremiah Weed,” even though it’s supposedly the alcoholic beverage of choice for U.S. fighter pilots, at least according to the company’s official Facebook page. (You’d think something like that would’ve impinged on my Trivia Detection Net at some point. I strongly suspect this claim is nothing more than the feverish imagining of some copywriter somewhere who was going for the same macho/funny vibe behind Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign.) Anyway, this Jeremiah Weed stuff is, again referring to that Facebook page, “a 100-proof bourbon liqueur distilled in Kentucky” that is “relatively strong and somewhat sweet.” It’s an ingredient in a number of products marketed by the company, including:

• Jeremiah Weed Bourbon Liqueur
• Jeremiah Weed Blended Bourbon
• Jeremiah Weed Sweet Tea Flavored Vodka
• Lightning Lemonade® Premium Malt Beverage
• Roadhouse Tea™ Premium Malt Beverage
• Spiked Cola™ Premium Malt Beverage

Honestly, those all sound pretty horrible to me. I’m not a bourbon drinker and I’m not a fan of overly sweet booze (when I do drink, which admittedly isn’t often these days, I usually prefer Irish whiskey on the rocks, nice and simple and not likely to leave me with a splitting headache the next day, which syrupy mixed drinks and sugary liqueurs always seem to do). However, I’d be willing to sample any of these beverages if it was personally handed to me by a member of That L’il Old Band from Texas:

I always wonder when I see ads like this if the reactions are genuine, i.e., are these really just random good ol’ boys dropping into the local Kwik-E-Mart with no idea ZZ Top was behind that wall, or was it all scripted and acted? Either way, it’s a fun ad. I love those guys… the hot rod, the beards, the dancing girls. Yeah, that’s rock and roll, and that’s what I’m all about, baby.  Still not sure about that Weed stuff, though.