Dear Whisky Tasting Anon.
This blog you sent me is wrong in so many ways that I'll start with a very simple one: the friendship bracelets were not a gift from Sam. They were given by a very kind fan who wanted to do this kindness by giving other fans something that they would take as a souvenir of that moment. So, see how well informed "this person" is.
About European laws and drinks: do you really think that LandCon, Sony, Sassenach are companies without a legal department? The "blogger" in question thinks searching the Internet makes him a law expert, but he forgets that Sam, Sony, LandCon, and Co. have people working for them in this area who are in fact lawyers, people who went to universities to study the laws, who have professional experience and not simply someone who throws two or three words into the Google search bar. BTW I live in a European country addicted to bureaucracy and imagine you..... Whisky Tastings are held here with products sold only in foreign countries. That is exactly what makes these events interesting because these are the whisky that we don't find here easily.
One other thing: be wary of anyone who is bothered by how other people spend their money, because this is clearly a big sign of an envious soul. I didn't buy a ticket for the whisky tasting because I don't drink whisky. But I applaud all the fans (adult women) who participated in this moment, and I tell you one thing: I focused on buying everything Tobias was going to participate in. And if he was going to do a "Tap Water Tasting," I would pay as much as they demanded, just to be able to stay closer to him for a few minutes and drink tap water. Again, about friendship bracelets: a friend brought one for me, and it made me very emotional because I've never received one before (It wasn't common when I was younger). I'm very happy that Taylor Swift fans started doing something like this, and this idea has spread to other fandons. Whoever doesn't like friendship bracelets is because they've never gotten one.