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PANAMA CITY BEACH — from www.newsherald.com – Ron Jeremy serenaded fans with his harmonica during public appearances Friday to promote the rum label that bears his name.
He signed bottles, posters, T-shirts, videos, books and body parts. He shook hands, accepted kisses and shared jokes. But he noted that the rum sold with his face on the label is no laughing matter.
“You might buy one for the joke of it,” said Jeremy, who will turn 59 on March 12, “but to get the second and subsequent purchases, you have to be good. This rum has received phenomenal reviews, and you’re going to come back for more.”
Over the years, Jeremy has parlayed his name recognition as a former adult film star into a career of public appearances, music videos, and TV and movie cameos. He appears in one of the most-viewed modern music videos, LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It,” and his autobiography was a New York Times bestseller.
Ollie Hietalahti, CEO of the company producing Ron de Jeremy rum, said the idea came from a night he was out with friends in Amsterdam and saw a poster for Spanish rum. The Spanish word for rum is “ron,” and the group joked about having a drink with “Ron.”
A buddy drew a mock label for Ron Jeremy Rum on a napkin, Hietalahti said. Some time later, they contacted Jeremy, pitched the concept and launched a company. The secret to success, he said, was finding an award winning “master distiller,” Francisco “Don Pancho” Fernandez of Panama.
“They thought, ‘wouldn’t it be funny to get a famous Ron for our rum,’” Jeremy said. “Ron Reagan was dead, Ron Howard was busy making movies, and Ron McDonald was cooking hamburgers. That only left me.”
The rum comes in two blends, a “sipping” blend aged seven years that sells for about $27, and a darker spiced blend that sells for about $14. Both have received good reviews and industry medals of distinction.
Fans posed for photos and swapped stories with Jeremy during his appearance Friday afternoon. One of them, local musician and writer Jim Dodge, stopped by to purchase a bottle of the rum for a friend who is serving in the military in Afghanistan. He asked Jeremy to sign the bottle for his buddy.
“He has shook hands with a president, and he’s jealous of me because I got to meet Glenn Danzig and now Ron Jeremy,” Dodge said. “This is for him.”