Quit Stealing The People's Last Stand's Copper Mugs

Copper mug thievery is somewhat of a nationwide epidemic. Fans of the tasty classic cocktail the Moscow Mule just can't seem to help themselves when it comes to swiping the barware it's served in and now, yet another local bar has come forward to decry its sticky-fingered patrons: Mockingbird Station cocktail den The People's Last Stand says that in the past two years, they've had "over 100" of the shiny temptresses jacked from the bar, and now they're down to just four.

While other bars like The Standard Pour and Goodfriend have resorted to measures like raising prices or holding onto drinkers' drivers licenses, the team at People's is implementing some more creative tactics to thwart the thieves. Via the bar's Facebook page:

Our next shipment arrived earlier this week and have already been blessed by a priest. Said priest also used his sorcery to set a curse on anyone who steals the mugs to unimaginable hardships and misfortunes.

And just in case that doesn't work, the bar is holding a contest: The person who submits "the most effective solution" to preventing further mug swiping gets a $100 gift certificate. One creative Facebook fan has already suggested installing "a TSA full body scanner at the door" so that "anyone caught thieving a copper mug will have their nude xray displayed on the big screen TV."

UPDATE: In regards to thwarting the mug thieves, People's owner Kartik Rathore says, "We haven't tried any methods to prevent this yet, but we've discussed the shortfalls of the two most popular suggestions: charge a deposit or ask for an ID. Those ideas would work when it isn't busy, but very difficult to monitor when it is. The last thing we want to do is accuse someone of stealing when they haven't." (And as for who's doing the thieving? Rathore says most of the culprits are female, noting that "Often, girls drop them in their purses and walk off with them.")

· The People's Last Stand [Facebook]
· The Theft of Copper Mugs Has Gotten So Bad the Cost of Moscow Mules is Rising [City of Ate]

[Photo: Edsel Little/Flickr]