Drinking alcohol is an undeniable part of Australian social life.
While the legal age for buying alcohol is 18, underage drinking is a big issue.
Let’s target an opportunity, thought parts of the alcohol industry, and create and market drinks that combine sweet flavours, bright colours, trendy names and packaging with alcohol – and alcopops were born.
They’ve become the most commonly consumed form of alcohol among 12- to 17-year-old girls, and the drink of choice for underage binge drinkers.
When CHOICE conducted a blind taste test with 78 teenagers aged 18 and 19, they all recognised alcohol in beer and wine.
But only about two-thirds overall thought the alcopops contained alcohol, and only about half of the males detected it in the Vodka Mudshake Original Chocolate.
Disguising 4% alcohol in a drink that looks and tastes like a milkshake? We think that’s really shonky.
