Interestingly - the beverage of moderation bit harkens way, way back in American brewing tradition. When the income tax was reinstituted here breweries felt they were better positioned to ride out the inexorable rise of prohibition because they could proclaim themselves (and did repeatedly) as a moderate beverage for responsible consumption. Prior to the 16th Amendment, alcohol companies felt relatively immune from governmental interference because the taxes they paid made up a surprising part of the Federal budget.
Didn't do them a fat lot of good, but they used the same line again when Prohibition was on it's way out as a stepping stone back into full boozification of the country.