Alcohol charities have criticised a new 99p shot from the company behind BuzzBallz, warning its cheap price and heavy marketing are designed “to appeal to children”.
BuzzBallz, the brightly coloured ready-to-drink cocktails sold in spherical containers, have become popular with younger drinkers and on social media in recent years, particularly on TikTok where users post tasting videos and cocktail hacks featuring the brand.
The new product is being pitched as a nostalgia buy, with the company behind it rolling out an ice-cream van called the 99 Liquor Whip, serving the shots at university campuses this month , offering “unapologetically fun flavour experiences”.
Jem Roberts, head of external affairs at the Institute of Alcohol Studies, said the launch “looks like a product entirely designed to appeal to children while hiding behind a thin ‘nostalgia’ label”.
He added: “Sweet flavours, TikTok-style branding, and even an ice-cream van, it’s hardly subtle.
“We know two of the biggest drivers of alcohol harm are cheap prices and heavy marketing. A 99p shot promoted as fun and shareable combines both. And while youth drinking has declined, the UK still has some of the highest levels of heavy episodic drinking among young people in Europe, so this is not a problem we’ve solved.”
Roberts called for better regulation, noting that while alcohol industry rules state products should not particularly appeal to children, “examples like this keep appearing”.
A BuzzBallz giant gacha machine pop-up in London, where visitors can win items from a dispensing prize machine. Photograph: PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Live News.
Joe Marley, executive director at Alcohol Change UK, said: “Alcohol companies constantly find new and innovative ways to make alcohol seem essential to having a good time and encourage us to drink and drink more alcohol. In this case, the group behind BuzzBallz and Fireball Whisky’s blatant tactics to promote its new range will first reach students on campus.”
Marley said that “this group has a track record of going further than others when creating and marketing strong alcohol that tastes like sweets for pocket money prices, using playful approaches, bright colours and cultural trends to embed alcohol in young people’s lives”.
Marley expressed concern around possibly off campus adverts too with “colourful advertisements in high footfall public spaces such as bus stops and high streets” that risk appealing to children and young people.
“Evidence is clear that price, particularly during a cost-of-living crisis, paired with clever and unapologetic marketing has a big effect on drinking habits while shaping attitudes toward and normalising alcohol. As a society, we need to create an environment that protects all of us, especially children and young people, from constant efforts to encourage drinking, with proper controls and sensible limits on how alcohol can be marketed,” Marley said.
The Sazerac brand, who manufacture the drink, said it takes “concerns around underage drinking seriously, which is why all activity is governed by strict UK alcohol marketing, retail and age-verification standards”. It said: “Price alone does not determine whether a product appeals to minors; responsible marketing, clear adult targeting, and robust retail compliance are the critical factors.”
It said its new product has been designed “as a clearly adult-only alcohol activation, centred around flavoured spirit shots, nightlife occasions and legal-age consumers. More broadly, the creative approach reflects well-established nostalgia trends commonly used to engage adult consumers, particularly those of legal drinking age who identify with 90s and early-2000s culture.”
