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Buzzball

Is it the booze aisle? Or a candy store?

“It seems the market, more than ever is bursting with fruity, sweet, alcoholic drinks to appeal to the young at heart, and some skewed towards the female, consumer,” writes Phil Lempert, the wel-known Supermarket Guru.

In a recent article in Adage the point is made that in the alcohol industry – millennials in particular are huge fans of the sweet, fruity drink, so brands are going hard with an array of new options.

Take for example, Buzzballz (above). The Buzzballz comes in round, plastic, freezable cans in flavours such as “Strawberry Rum Job” and “Forbidden Apple.” Designed for summers by the beach or pool they look more like a fun fruit juice than alcohol.

And speaking juices, the “Happy Juice Express” looks particularly like it’s trying to appeal to a young crowd and guess what, in this 24-ounce (706ml) bottle there is 12% alcohol-by-volume, which is about three times the punch of the average light beer.

Also strong on the alcohol is Redd’s Wicked Apple, a spin off from MillerCoors and following up its recent Redd’s Apple Ale launch. It has an 8% alcohol-by-volume and packs more punch than regular Redd’s (5%).

“Now, there’s nothing wrong with a great summer cocktail or a refreshing fruit flavoured drink, but our problem with these is that they’re marketing young. Most of the designs for these drinks look more like a kid’s fruit juice, young and fun, than a drink for adults. When the alcohol content is so high, shouldn’t more care be taken when it comes to marketing?” cautions Lempert.

Adage: See the full report here