Stoli Vodka to LGBT Protestors: 'We're Not Really Russian, OK?'

Vladimir Putin hasn’t won too many friends in the Western world with his new anti-gay crusade. The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sotchi will probably be just fine, and the International Olympic Committee is crossing its fingers and hoping that nobody raises too big a stink.

But all this negative coverage is bad PR for some classic Russian brands, especially Stolichnaya Vodka. But Stoli’s not really Russian, and now the brand is scrambling to downplay the connection.

Columnist/”It Gets Better” frontman Dan Savage wrote an article in July explaining his decision to boycott all Russian vodkas in which he called out Stoli (in bold type, no less) and encouraged other gay men and women to refrain from drinking the stuff.