Don't Buy Into It
Photo: Neal Hemphill
As I passed a liquor store yesterday, I noticed an ad for Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey.
Ummm…weird. Disgusting. Jeez.
From a review on “Drinkhacker (the insider’s guide to good drinking)”:
“And then there’s the aftertaste: Hypersweetened peanuts that linger in the mouth for ages.”
Sounds gross, right? Not to mention the whiskey part of it? Harsh whisky with sweet/salty peanut butter flavor?
Skrewball. Cute.
WTF, right?
I’m very far removed from current drinking culture. Many drinks, liquors, beers, and hard cider and seltzer have been created and marketed since I put down my last drink (I went out with a whimper on a can of Coors Light).
Now, I’m able to see alcohol advertising for what it is. They want to entice me to drink so they can make money.
So, let’s open our eyes to what’s happening.
The marketers of the world have gotten incredibly advanced, and their work with analytics pushes them ever further into better and more specific marketing of their wares.
Alcohol manufacturers and their outlets are in business to make $$. A lot of it.
Here’s a rundown on the $ made last year by the top 7 beer behemoths in the world (via © Statista 2023).
Total? $145 billion.
That’s a lot of beer.
Here’s what I want to say about this: alcohol and alcohol culture come with a lot of pressure. Peer Pressure. Family pressure. The pressure to be cool. To hold your liquor. To drink more than last time. To chug fast. To chug the most. To get behind the wheel when you’re drunk because your peers want you to take them to the next party, the next bar. Pressure to show up for work when you wake up puking. Pressure to blow off work because the big party is happening…the weekend house…the concert, the game.
I was all in. I was more someone who pressured others than one that reacted to the pressure, although I did a lot of crazy drinking because I felt pressured to.
Hangovers and bad consequences can make one reconsider, if even briefly. Ahhh, but waiting for us is the peer pressure, our own desire to drink, and…
Advertising.
They lie.
They exaggerate. They paint a false picture of fun and hi-jinks and romance and sex and good friends and “to be cool, you HAVE to drink blah blah blah brand of hooch.”
Bullshit.
I had no choice when my active alcoholism was running the show. I fell victim to all of it.
But, in recovery, I’ve regained my ability to make a choice.
I choose to not buy into it because I know where it takes me.
See the ads and the pressure for what they are. If you’re struggling to get or to stay sober, do it on your own terms, no one else’s.