Maine Cops: Actually, There Are Laws When You’re Drinking Claws

In June, YouTube comic Trevor Wallace kicked off what has become our collective White Claw summer when he released an almost five-minute long video called "Drinks White Claw Once." More than two million people have watched as he both parodies and celebrates the flavored hard seltzer—and a year ago, no one would've ever expected that they'd be reading or writing that sentence.

In addition to describing White Claw as being like a "Four Loko that went to private school," he also shouted "Ain't no laws when you're drinking Claws" from a balcony. In the weeks since, that phrase has become inescapable, and you'll hear it in approximately one out of every four Insta-stories you watch this weekend. (If there is a god, she will yeet this planet into the sun before Labor Day.)

The Portland, Maine Police Department also recently learned about the No Laws-slash-Claws situation, and they have reminded everyone that it's not based in reality.

"To clear the air: here in Portland, laws still apply even when you’re drinking claws. Or drinking anything else." they tweeted on Monday. "RT to keep your 'bros' out of trouble."

As of this writing, that warning has been liked more than 2,000 times, but some of the responses are solid reminders that not every demographic is riding that lightly flavored Claw wave. "Is that like drinking out of cleaned out lobster claws? A Maine tradition??" one self-described grandma responded. "My grandson has completed two years of pre-law at SNHU and told me that officers making arrests on anyone drinking the seltzer beers will likely lose their job," a greying mustache added.

A disturbing number of people who don't understand postal abbreviations mistook Maine for Oregon, and essentially asked whether these Portland cops were responding to the far-right "End Domestic Terrorism Rally" in that Portland. ("We are not in Oregon and can not assist you with issues that are happening (or happened) there," they wrote.)

If you think that White Claw is honest-to-gawd everywhere this summer, you're not imagining it. Just a couple of days after Wallace dropped his "Drinks White Claw Once" video, Business Insider reported that the hard seltzer business was currently valued at $550 million, a number that is expected to increase to $2.5 billion by 2021. Not only that, but according to Nielsen, White Claw sales have jumped 254% this year, compared to last year's sales data. (The Claw and Truly Hard Seltzer currently account for a whopping 85% of hard seltzer sales.)

Wallace also tried to cash in on White Claw Summer, releasing a T-shirt that said—what else? —"Ain't No Laws When You're Drinking Claws," but the seltzer-maker quickly placed an order for a cease & desist. "Trevor was asked by White Claw’s legal team to not sell these shirts," a company spokesperson told VinePair.

Even the Portland Police Department understands that, Claw or no Claw, copyright infringement is still a thing.