We wish to file this Moscow Copper Company scam complaint. I initially heard about this company in a report titled Top 10 Scams of 2015 - Worst scams exposed.
I have direct ties to the Smirnoff Company so I wanted to look into this further. My affiliation with Smirnoff allows me to speak with authority regarding the truth about the origination of the Moscow Mule and related issues.
From what we can see the company is owned by Mr. JJ Resnick out of Santa Barbara, CA.
It appears Moscow Copper Co. crafted a misleading story / press release full of fallacies in order to dupe the media into providing free publicity.
Moscow Copper Co. made up this outrageous story claiming his grandmother Sophie Berezinski was the original creator of the Moscow Mule Mug and drink. Our research shows Sophie Berezinski had nothing to do with it.
Our research show there was no “single” mug that was created for the Moscow Mule drink.
There were several different styles and sizes of mugs with none of them being the “Original” as Moscow Copper Claims theirs is.
We can’t find a single article, blog post, facebook comment or any reference point at all of Sophie Berezinski or her grandson JJ Resnick being involved in this industry prior to 2014 when Moscow Copper Co was born.
There story appears completely made up and there are no facts or content to back it up in an attempt of obtaining free publicity as previously stated.
Here’s a link to their “story” listed on their own website portal http://moscowcopper.com/pages/our-story
We show it’s just a clever marketing stunt in order to trick the media and other businesses into free publicity… a classic marketing scam unscrupulous businesses use in order to obtain free advertising.
Our research shows Moscow Copper Co. (owned by JJ Resnick) was recently created less than two years ago and has no ties to the industry as claimed.
It appears Moscow Copper Co. published this misleading press release that gained the attention of several large businesses and media outlets, including Food and Wine Magazine and others.
Unfortunately, Food and Wine Magazine and others have taken the bait and fallen for this scam. They have posted articles giving Moscow Copper Co. free publicity and praise for being the inventor when they are not.
I also learned Smirnoff is looking into Moscow’s “story” as well and may file a lawsuit pending their own internal investigation.
Mark Larson
cc. scamguard.com, ftccomplaintassistant.gov, fraud.org/complaint, stopfraud.gov, ripoffreport.com