Alan Smithee Coffee?

You may be familiar with the name "Alan Smithee" without knowing why.

Alan Smithee [Wikipedia] is a pseudonym (no longer used officially) assigned by the Director's Guild of America when the director could show that creative control had been severely compromised -- often when a film was re-edited)

So, I was quite surprised to see Alan Smithee Coffee as the brand name on the coffee urns at the Odeon Theatre (part of the Cineplex chain). Here's a photo of the sugar packs:

I have to wonder if the Odeon knew it was being funny with the brand or whether the wholesaler thought it would be damned funny to pitch Alan Smithee coffee to a theatre chain. I'm guessing the latter -- I mean, most theatre coffee is like bar coffee (weak and nasty), so who would want their brand associated with it?


TAGS: alan smithee, coffee