Summer's Deceptive Drinks

Source: Wikimedia Commons: Wikimania 2011 Beach Party 2

In 1993, parents were infuriated about a drink called Zima. Zima Clearmalt was a clear, lightly carbonated alcoholic beverage made and distributed by the Coors Brewing Company. It was marketed as an “alternative to beer” containing 4.7 to 5.4 percent alcohol by volume. This alcoholic beverage had a flavor similar to many sodas and an unassuming bottle. Parents felt that the packaging and flavor were giving the impression that the beverage was benign and possibly even non-alcoholic.

Fast forward to 2022. It would be hard to find a summer social event without a “spiked seltzer drink” such as White Claw, Truly, Bon&Viv, or others. They are marketed as a refreshing alternative to beer, wine, and cocktails. They are crisp and clean, like seltzer, with 5 percent alc./vol., and only 100 calories. These beverages are technically categorized as flavored malt beverages (FMB). Ironically, the true “alternative" to beer, wine, and cocktails would actually be a non-alcoholic beverage, such as an actual seltzer or soda.

In 2019, U.S. drinkers bought more hard seltzer by volume than vodka, specifically, 82.5 million 9-liter cases, or almost 2.1 billion 355-milliliter cans. In 2020, hard seltzer’s total share of the overall alcohol market in sales by volume rose to 2.6 percent, which is more than a third of the total 6.8 percent volume sales of all spirits, with wine at 11 percent. However, hard seltzer is barely seven years old.

The true difference between these “alternatives” is that, instead of parents worrying about the marketing strategies of companies, as they had been with Zima, they may be too distracted drinking them—at times in front of their children. Attending summer cookouts, it can be surreal to see the children’s juice and seltzers mixed with the alcoholic “hard seltzers” at times.

When the pandemic increased the average American’s drinking by 50 percent, it became even easier to justify “throwing back” a low-calorie and seemingly refreshing alcoholic beverage. There is an innocence to the designs on the cans and those in recovery have, at times, not even noticed the words that distinguish these drinks from non-alcoholic seltzers. In fact, the increase in overall alcohol sales grew 2 percent in 2020 during the pandemic, while the increase in sales for hard seltzer rose 43 percent. While it is impossible to directly conclude causation with the simultaneous increase in alcohol use disorders, it is possible to at least draw a correlation.

So what is the issue with all of this? Image. FMBs have managed to creep into our culture with innocent-looking packaging, appearing to be benign and not to actually “count” as drinking alcohol in many people's minds. The only catch is that they have the same amount of alcohol as a beer or a standard drink, and, therefore, the same effect as all other alcoholic drinks. These are the wolves in sheep’s clothing of alcohol and can be challenging for those who are trying to cut back on drinking or for those who are sober to successfully avoid.

FMB's can also disguise and minimize teenagers' drinking behaviors. If underage and young drinkers are participating in a keg stand or taking shots of hard alcohol, the image can be more disturbing than standing in the ocean at the beach casually sipping on a hard seltzer. You can dress alcohol up however you want to, but, in the end, it is the same addictive substance that leads to more than 95,000 deaths per year and with 14 million adults currently having alcohol use disorders.

The pandemic has led to a staggering increase in individuals struggling with alcohol use disorders as well as those who are trying to stay sober. Therefore, it is important to have dialogues around these types of topics with friends and your own children in order to counteract the image that these alcoholic beverages have inherited. In fact, they are more dangerous because so many people have their guards down for both themselves and their children when they are around.