How The Alcohol Companies Target Women Through Influencers, Marketing, and Social Media With Suzanne Warye

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

alcohol, wine, drinking, influencers, women, industry, talk, podcast, love, people, year, feel, marketing, brands, alcohol consumption, molly sims, called, influencer marketing, work, women make the majority of financial spending decisions, addictive, alcohol is addictive, addictive as nicotine, Gen Z, Gen X, latchkey, mental health, anti-wine culture, freedom, sobriety, positive, sober curious for women, influencing, Instagram, reels, relatable and funny, accountable, alcohol industry, alcohol-free, Kettle One Campaign, know, like, trust, early sobriety, detoxing from alcohol, The Sober Mom Life, My Kind Of Sweet, Marketing, influencer, social media, style influencer, product marketing, brand positioning, digital marketing, time, research, money, targeting, identify ideal consumer, mom wine culture, behind the scenes, informed media consumer, alcohol is targeting women

SPEAKERS: Casey McGuire Davidson + Suzanne Warye

00:02

Welcome to the Hello Someday Podcast, the podcast for busy women who are ready to drink less and live more. I’m Casey McGuire Davidson, ex-red wine girl turned life coach helping women create lives they love without alcohol. But it wasn’t that long ago that I was anxious, overwhelmed, and drinking a bottle of wine and night to unwind. I thought that wine was the glue, holding my life together, helping me cope with my kids, my stressful job and my busy life. I didn’t realize that my love affair with drinking was making me more anxious and less able to manage my responsibilities.

In this podcast, my goal is to teach you the tried and true secrets of creating and living a life you don’t want to escape from.

Each week, I’ll bring you tools, lessons and conversations to help you drink less and live more. I’ll teach you how to navigate our drinking obsessed culture without a buzz, how to sit with your emotions when you’re lonely or angry, frustrated or overwhelmed, how to self soothe without a drink, and how to turn the decision to stop drinking from your worst case scenario to the best decision of your life.

I am so glad you’re here. Now let’s get started.

In today’s episode, I’m talking with Suzanne Warye, who is the host of the Sober Mom Life podcast and a style influencer at My Kind Of Sweet.

 

We’re talking about

 

How alcohol companies target women through marketing, influencers, and social media.

 

I’ve wanted to do this episode for a while because I spent 20 years in product marketing, brand positioning and digital marketing.

 

I know the work going on behind the scenes and the amount of time, research, money and targeting that goes into a brand’s effort to identify their ideal consumer for a particular product and all the levers at their disposal to increase consumption of that product.

 

And it’s important to be aware of this, especially when they’re marketing an addictive product to you – like alcohol or cigarettes. Because as you increase your consumption of their product you are also unknowingly becoming more dependent on it – which is exactly their goal.

 

So, if you think that wine is your reward at the end of a hard day or brings you closer to your partner and allows you to connect. If you think that a drink helps you relax or is empowering and helps you bond with coworkers or is needed to help you entertain customers so that they’ll buy from you… If you think drinking makes motherhood easier or helps you hold on to the identity and independence you cherished before you had children – that is not an accident.

 

Your needs and wants and frustrations and insecurities have been analyzed from every angle and the alcohol companies have determined that these are the most compelling messages you need to hear to make you drink their products and drink it more often.

 

I asked Suzanne to partner with me on this topic because she knows the behind the scenes of influencing what goes into building mom wine culture and the big brands capitalizing on this audience. 

And if you listen to this episode, you’ll hear that I quote from a lot of industry reports from both alcohol and the influencing industry – because I want you to hear – from them – what they’re saying about us, about our alcohol consumption, about how to target us and when to shift their messaging to combat the other information coming out about the negative health effects of alcohol on our bodies and our minds.

 

Now you can make your own decisions about drinking or not drinking – it’s your choice – and for years, I was the biggest true believer in these messages and reinforced them to my family and friends.

 

But I wish I had this information at the time.  Because it’s important to be an informed media consumer.

 

My hope is that after this episode, you can take a fresh look at what your beliefs about what alcohol does for you, or why it’s important – and notice the messages all around you that have led you to have that view.

 

So here we go…

 

 

01:21

Hi, everybody, I am so excited today. I’m with Casey of The Hello Someday podcast. And we’re going to talk about how alcohol is targeting women, how that plays out in advertising and marketing and social media. And I’ve been an influencer for Oh God, 9 years, though, too long. And so, I know kind of the ins and outs of that. And Casey, you know, all of the other data.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  01:52

 

So, I was, before I started Coaching. For 20 years, I was in Product Marketing and Brand Marketing, Marketing Communications, both for B2B Companies. I worked for a photography company that did entertainment imagery, as well as video, as well as news and sports and Advertising. But I also worked, I’ve talked about this before. I worked at L’Oréal, so huge focus group marketing, brand marketing loyalty towards women. And then, also, I worked at this company that rented designer handbags like Prada. All the big ones. Oh, what was them? It was called, the Bag Borrow or Steal. And when I know that, oh, yes, for sure. Yes. So, I was their Director of Branding and Marketing. And when I joined, it was when they were being featured in the first Sex in the City of video. Movie Director, Jennifer Hudson, being like, I rented it from Bag Borrow or Steal?

 

03:03

Yes, yes, it was the, it was like, a Louis Vuitton denim patchwork bag. Look at you.

 

03:09

I know Oh, I don’t even remember that. And like, it was the biggest thing in company history. And at L’Oréal, we got on Oprah’s Favorite Things for the holiday season, which was huge. And so, like, I know how much money goes into that. We also paid.

 

I worked for Clarisonic, which is their school care product. And we literally paid $10,000, $20,000 to influencers. Yeah, to create YouTube videos and social posts and all that stuff. Yeah. So, we know both sides.

 

03:49

We do. We do. We know, we know. And we’re women, too, by the way.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  03:55

And we used to drink a shitload of alcohol.

 

03:58

Yeah. And we were targeted. So, we know all of it.

 

04:02

We bought in and we were part of the mommy wine culture. We were part of the women empowerment. This is what working women do.

 

04:14

All the things. Yeah, the glamorization of alcohol, right. Like that’s yeah.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  04:19

And one of the reasons that I want to do this is because I feel like women have been conditioned, I guess, through influencers, through marketing, through advertising campaigns, through social media, but also through each other, like all of society has bought in and absorbed this message. And it’s like this circular firing squad, where like, yes, you get advertising and movies and all this stuff. And your sister and best friend and mother also buy in, and I feel like we need to be informed media Consumers in order to not believe the hype.

 

05:05

Holy man, this is such a big topic. And this is one that I talk about all the time because I think that targeting women, and especially mothers isn’t new, right? Like, you think about back in the 60s with Mommy’s Little Helper. And what was that Valium, or right? It was something. So, this idea that moms are always searching for something to make motherhood easier. Because that’s the fact that the fact remains is that motherhood is fucking hard. And like, we do need help. And moms do need help. And so, we are like, we’re a Marketer’s dream. Because we not only control generally speaking, what comes into our house, right.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  05:54

Like, the financial budget. I, you know, everybody thinks it’s the men, even when women did not work, which now they do, usually 50/50 and bring in the same amount of income. But even before that women make the majority of financial spending decisions.

 

06:15

Yes, yes, we are the CEOs of our house. And this is generally speaking, right? But over and Marketers know that, like that, they know, first of all, that we make the spending decisions, and they also know that we’re stressed, and that we need help. Right? And so that’s what you know, in the 60s in the 50s, and 60s, the Mommy’s Little Helper, and all of that the whole valium thing. I mean, it’s just the same thing. Now with alcohol. It’s the same exact event.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  06:46

So, there are two things about it. One, I mean, Ann Dowsett Johnston, who wrote the book, Drink. She does a ton of research for her work, and she calls alcohol, the modern woman’s steroid, you know, allowing her to do it all.

 

And even though we know, all it does is drag her down and keep her stuck.

 

And yeah, and the second thing is that I feel that the way alcohol is marketed to women and the way women consume it, it’s like, since you talk to a bunch of moms, and I do too, it’s like a pacifier. Like, when a baby is crying, or when a baby is tired, or when you need to be somewhere, but the baby is basically being like, I can’t do this anymore. You stick a pacifier in. And that is what women have been doing. They’ve been numbing themselves, so that they can tolerate the lives they’ve set up and the responsibilities and all the shit.

 

08:02

Yes, I actually picture now that you know, and I didn’t realize all of this stuff, right? When you’re in it. And when you’re being targeted by really fucking good marketing, you don’t know you’re being marketed to that’s what makes it great. And so, now that I kind of have this, like, 30,000 foot view of everything.

 

I, I literally picture like, 4 men in black suits, sitting at my kitchen island. I’m a very visual person. And I picture them just like pushing a drink toward me, like in a nice pink can or whether that’s like white coal, or like wine or whatever it is, and just saying, No more, no more talking. Because this kind of gets into the whole patriarchy. I don’t know what is more powerful than a woman than a sober woman with a clear head, who knows what she wants and knows what she needs and demands it and has been afraid I’ll use her says.

 

09:02

yes. And I don’t I don’t think there’s anything more powerful. And it’s not an accident that we’ve been marketed to because what, you know, if they weren’t afraid of us, they wouldn’t want us to be quiet.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  09:16

Okay, and not only that there is a meme or something going around social that I’ve seen multiple times that I hate, and I love because it’s so fucking true. And if you look at it with a critical eye, you’re like, What the actual fuck? And it is this thing that is supposed to be funny, and it’s like, A Man’s Guide to Dealing with Women. Sort of like, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. And it says like, dangerous, ultra-dangerous, dangerous. Okay, safe, very safe. And in each one, the dangerous thing is to come home and be like, Would you do all day? Right? Ding? Or are you wearing that? You know, like, all this stuff? And, you know, then there’s dangerous, whatever safe like, Oh, honey, you look nice, you know, or whatever, like, Yeah, whatever. And the “Ultra Safe”  in every single category is here, honey have someone like, and yeah, it is fucking true.

 

10:36

Mm hmm. It is true and, and, you know all of the memes and all of the stuff that we’re that we just kind of scroll through on social media and we see all of that sinks in. And all of that is just further normalizing this idea that not only is his wine and alcohol. Not only is it, you know, accepted and motherhood, but that it’s essential. And that’s what we’ve been taught that we need this. And it’s just, it’s, this isn’t just, you know, a lot of people. I talk to you, or I think they assume that it’s just like, oh, this is just kind of by mistake, like moms stumbled onto wine thinking that it helped us. And then when it did help us, we just spread the word, because we want to help other people, too. And that’s just not true. That’s not how all of this shitstorm started.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  11:33

No. And it’s insidious. And I hate it. Because this happens a whole lot. When people talk about our con women and the growth in it and whatever. And do not mention that alcohol is addictive, the substance addictive. They’re like, it’s a coping mechanism. Women are using it for fun. It’s, you know, and it’s like, yes, yes, it becomes a habit. And it’s a fucking addictive substance. It’s worse as designed. It’s not your fault that when you drink, you want to drink more, you want to drink more often. And just like smoking. The industry knows that.

 

12:24

They count on that. Yeah, they count on that. It’s so true that we have not, we were just not educated and how highly addictive alcohol is. And that’s it’s right up there with nicotine. It’s as addictive as nicotine. I was talking to a friend the other day and she was, like, you know, I drink wine at night. And I’m like, okay, like, that’s fine. I don’t care. Even though people think I’m on a crusade. I’m not on a crusade in my personal life. And you know, she’s like, well, it’s no different than sugar or coffee. And I’m like, well, that’s yeah, it is. That’s yeah, that’s where you’re wrong. And I was like, Well, it’s a highly addictive drug. And she’s like, What? Alcohol is not addictive? And I was like, oh, oh, man.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  13:10

Yeah, yeah. And I feel like young people and I, we’re going to talk about this. They’re wise to this shit. Yeah. You’ve been listening to a podcast called, the Conversation Last Night talking about all the reasons Gen Z is drinking less. And there were all these factors, but they are wise to this shit, including the impact on mental health.

 

Yeah, cancer connection, the heart history connection. And they’re very worried with social media that they’re like, one bad night can fuck up your entire life. Like, I ought to have a job, you know? Yeah.

 

13:50

Could you imagine if we had social media when we were… Oh my god.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  13:53

Oh my god. I, like, be screwed for life. I mean, I do think Gen Z has it, right? I mean, the next, I’m Gen X. Okay, like, I love Gen X people, like, are you kidding? Reality Bites and the latchkey generation. Latchkey.

 

14:11

Yes. So, my brother and I had a whole podcast where we talked about being Gen X. I am what’s considered because I’m 1980. And so, I’m either the eldest millennial or the youngest Gen X, which obviously I choose the youngest Gen X because I am Gen X through and through. Latchkey kid, feeling like, everything.

 

Is your brother older, younger? He’s older. So, he’s Gen X, and that, you know, sets the tone. So, I’m 1975, so I’m okay. Yeah, younger Gen X, but fully Gen X.

 

14:46

I mean, we are the Forgotten generation. We were used to being forgotten. Our parents forgot about us, like the news forgets about life.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  14:54

Parents never got divorced. Yeah, but it is the divorced generation. Oh my, did the first time. Wait, your parents are divorced?

 

15:05

Oh yeah, they got divorced when I was six. And then they each got divorced again. They were like, I don’t think we did that right away.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  15:11

Are we going to get married again? No. Okay, so yeah.

 

15:16

Yep. Single. My dad passed away. But my mom, my mom’s swore off everything.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  15:22

Yeah, but it was my dad passed away, too. And the reason I asked is because I have friends, parents, and I adore them. And you know, my dad passed away. So, he’s like my second father. And both of them had very short second marriages and are happily married to each other. Again, no, no, sorry. Oh, first marriages, their thought their daughter is my best friend. Very short second marriages, and then they married each other. And they’re like, Yeah, everyone has a mistake. Second marriage, which cracks me up.

 

16:02

Oh, wait. Oh my god. Well, my parents both did for sure. Yeah, but I feel like yeah, Gen Z. Gen Z is focused on mental health is going to lead them in the right direction because we were not focused on mental health. Gen X.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  16:17

Yeah, by the way, I have to read this because normally on my podcast, I get lovely reviews.

 

And by the way, I read them on. It totally makes my day and makes us so happy. We love the reviews. And the pod just hit 1 Million downloads, which I’m so excited about.

 

I’ve gotten like two shitty reviews. And I have to read this one because it relates to this topic.

 

Yeah, she says love it and hate it. I’ve felt compelled to speak up to this anti-wine culture being created.  

 

We are anti-wine culture. We are, I am proudly anti-wine culture, because there’s so everywhere we turn, we are told that wine is the answer. As women and as moms, someone has to tell the truth. And I will proudly be anti-wine culture.

 

Does that mean you’re a failure? If you still drink wine? No, no, no, no. Like you, Casey, I will never call anyone a failure. But what I will do is share the truth in the science and what I have found and freedom and sobriety like yeah, oh yeah, let’s be anti-wine culture.

 

Yeah, I’m also anti-negative. You know, if you’re going to leave a negative review, like please leave positive reviews on things that you like, you know, like if you liked the podcast, leave, leave a positive review. We do. Be more positive in the world guys. Okay?

Casey McGuire Davidson 

Hi there. If you’re listening to this episode, and have been trying to take a break from drinking, but keep starting and stopping and starting again, I want to invite you to take a look at my on demand coaching course, The Sobriety Starter Kit®.

 

The Sobriety Starter Kit® is an online self study sober coaching course that will help you quit drinking and build a life you love without alcohol without white knuckling it or hating the process. The course includes the exact step by step coaching framework I work through with my private coaching clients, but at a much more affordable price than one on one coaching. And the sobriety starter kit is ready, waiting and available to support you anytime you need it. And when it fits into your schedule. You don’t need to work your life around group meetings or classes at a specific day or time.

This course is not a 30 day challenge, or a one day at a time approach. Instead, it’s a step by step formula for changing your relationship with alcohol. The course will help you turn the decision to stop drinking, from your worst case scenario to the best decision of your life.

You will sleep better and have more energy, you’ll look better and feel better. You’ll have more patience and less anxiety. And with my approach, you won’t feel deprived or isolated in the process. So if you’re interested in learning more about all the details, please go to www.sobrietystarterkit.com. You can start at any time and I would love to see you in the course 

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  20:03

Implements her brands, Use marketing.

 

So, I am a person who, you know, within the industry forever. I’ve Google alerts for sober curious for women and alcohol, etc. And so, I get the inside scoop and what wine industry magazines and wine lobbyists and alcohol brands are writing about, like, their perspective, too. So, I’m going to share that. But I want you to talk about the behind the scenes of influencing.

 

20:38

I mean, yes, so there’s so mommy wine culture is so prevalent. And I’m going to talk mostly about Instagram, because that’s probably where I spend the most time and where I see it the most. You know, I think the last time I was on your podcast, I talked about Molly Sims, but there are these big influencers, and I was actually just texting with a friend yesterday. And she was like, Why does Molly Sims? Like why do these, these people keep sharing these highly dangerous reels, right? Where she’s saying, Oh, isn’t it cute? My doctor told me I need more vitamin C. And so, I’m putting orange juice in my tequila this morning. Like, isn’t that cute? And funny this morning? This morning, right? And by the way, here’s the brand I use.

 

Yeah, yes, yes. Or like, this is how moms get through Daylight Saving Time. And I’m going to pour a whole bottle of wine into my Stanley Cup, right? So, I’m not only going to binge drink, but I’m going to hide my drinking. And I’m going to drink to cope with motherhood during the day. And it’s also her branded wine. Right?

 

Yeah. So why do they keep sharing it? They keep sharing it because, first of all, they don’t realize, and I don’t. They’re not off the hook for not realizing because when you have an audience of 500,000, or a million followers, you need to educate yourself on what you’re sharing, right. So, they don’t realize how dangerous alcohol is. They don’t realize how addictive it is. They don’t realize that, like, female drinking went up 41% since the COVID pandemic began.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  22:19

And among mothers of children under five years old, went up 323%, yes, and deaths, alcohol related deaths, and including among young people, we’re talking like 30s and 40s. Typically, alcohol related deaths increased 2% a year. And in the year after the pandemic, it spiked 25%.

 

Oh, my God, that is scary. That’s harrowing. They don’t know all of these things, right? And like I say, that doesn’t mean like, we give them a pass and say, well, they don’t know it. No, they should be. And we must expect them to be informed if they are putting out reels to their millions of followers. Because the problem is, and here’s the lie with mommy wine culture and influencing the lie is that Molly Sims is not drinking tequila in her orange juice in the morning. She’s not right. That’s the first lie. And then someone will say, Well, what if she is into that?

 

I would say, well, if she is, she’s still lying. Because then, she’s not showing the effects. And she’s not being truthful about if she is hiding her drinking in the morning, that she’s not being truthful about the addictive qualities of alcohol and how it affects her mothering and her business.

 

But I’m going to tell you, she’s not doing that. Because she is running a business. She is a mom, she’s highly successful. She looks like a million bucks. She’s not doing that. Her followers, though, are. They are finding this very relatable, and they’re finding solace in the fact that someone like Molly Sims, is drinking alcohol in the morning to cope with motherhood, or hire a bottle of wine, and an entire bottle of wine to get through daylight saving. And they’re thinking, Oh, thank god. Thank god. I’m seeing me, right. I’m seeing me in this reel. I’m going to “like” it. Look at how many other people are liking it good. I’m not alone. The problem is, you know, Judy, in Iowa is not Molly Sims. She is drinking more to cope with motherhood because everything around her is telling her that it will help show you that it’s normal. And then it’s normal.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  24:53

Like, well, my friends drink a bottle of wine at night, and I was like, I never drink in the morning. Well, it’s when I had a mimosa or bloody Ameri, like, that doesn’t count because I’m shifting the alcohol. I’m drinking, right? I used to drink like, we would have eight bottles of champagne for pumpkin carving brunch. Oh, amongst my friends, I mean knives and alcohol. It’s just a good combo. So yeah.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  25:23

And children, he wanted to like fucking doing handstands afterwards. And we sent my husband out to buy more champagne. And like, my girlfriend used to like, pour, you know, we would make Mimosa and she would be like, “just a splash for color”. About the OJ, right? Just for color.

 

25:45

Yes. And what do we want to feel about our drinking? We want to feel okay. And like, we want to feel okay about ourselves. And so all of those reels that seem funny and Ha ha, isn’t that cute? You know, Judy, and Iowa is saying, okay, thank God, thank God, I’m not alone in this. But then what happens is, the alcohol does its job, and it does what it’s supposed to do. And your tolerance goes up, and you end up drinking more, and then you’re addicted.

 

And you’re thinking, What is wrong with me? That I can’t I don’t look like Molly Sims. I can’t, I’m not. I’m not able to mother in the way that I thought I would. I’m not able to run my business because now I’m addicted to alcohol. And it’s something wrong with me. That’s shame, right? When we think that it’s just me, it’s a weakness in me that I can’t handle my drinking. And then I can’t somehow fit alcohol into the cracks of motherhood. Like it seems like everyone else around me can. We don’t talk about it.

 

Because if we talk about it, holy shit, we got to go to AA, we got to call ourselves an alcoholic. And so, then it’s the shame spiral and shame is really a key to feel we’re not going to feel it. And then so we drink. And it’s all this. It can, you can draw a line back to these reels that are trying to be relatable and funny. And Molly says, has no idea that she’s doing big alcohols dirty work, and very certain, are we certain? Yes, really, that doesn’t mean that she’s off the hook. And that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t be held accountable. I think I shared with you when I did a campaign for kettle one. And like, you know, it doesn’t just piss you off that, like, I just pictured these, you know, the guys in the suits being like, make it pink, and then they’ll buy it. And like that, they think we’re so fucking stupid. And it turns out, we’re tricked into being like, well, this is pink. Oh, I can’t be that bad. It’s pink. You guys have flowers on it.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  27:53

And by the way, there is I have all the research which I just we could talk forever. Yeah. out the information and studies that were done in the alcohol industry in terms of like, they were hitting a ceiling with men. It’s like the tobacco industry “hook them young” but then we’re killing off our own customers. So, they’re like, Okay, we have to expand market share. Let’s go after women

 

28:28

get they didn’t have a choice. And it’s almost like you know, in the day when light cigarettes like Marlboro lights, right? And we thought like, well, I you know, I smoked Marlboro lights in college because like, I’m not going to smoke Marlboro. That’s too much nicotine and tobacco but light, like that. And there was a class action lawsuit against all you know, the Thank You for Smoking all of that stuff. And thinking that, Oh, we’ve been tricked because we thought light cigarettes were better for us. Yeah. And it’s the same fucking thing. It’s like, well, we thought that the pink bottle of alcohol wasn’t ethanol. It’s not like Jack Daniels.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  29:07

Oh my god. There are bottles of wine literally named mommies. Oh, and mom water. Mom. Water. Yeah. Okay, so does Molly Sims know that she’s doing big alcohols dirty work? No, but she does know. She does know that she’s lying. Yeah, and she does know that she is not addicted to alcohol. I don’t think because I don’t think a lot of us know unless you spend time researching and looking into it. I don’t think a lot of us realize how calculated this is.

 

Yeah. Well, although there was a huge backlash against Tropicana when they did this campaign on social bio way, with, you know, Molly Sims and a bunch of other people hiding their alcohol consumption in their closet or in the laundry or there was like a frigerator disguised I think as a laundry hamper. And there was such a backlash against it that the ad was pulled. And I’m sure they were like Haters going to hate. Told you guys are so uptight. But she must I mean, unless she totally was oblivious to that, like the campaign was pulled?

 

30:37

Yeah, I think that it I guess I guess I assume she doesn’t realize how dark and how dangerous it is because she keeps posting it. Maybe that’s like the, you know, maybe that’s the hopeful part of me. I mean, you look at you know, there was all that, like, when JLo came out with alcohol and alcohol line or whatever, some sort of alcohol, something and everyone was up and was up in arms, like she doesn’t even drink. And I’m like, you guys. Exactly. Like that’s, that’s exactly. This is the quiet part out loud. You’re seeing these people who are sharing the ads, and in the reels and all of the social media stuff and all the posts. They don’t do it either.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  31:30

Because well, by the way, Blake Lively did. Yes. I was so disappointed in because she has never drank. And she had Betty buzz, and it was held up as Oh, look at all these amazing influencers. I mean, I’m trying to remember whether Katy Perry had one and whether Gigi.

 

31:52

Yeah, just Katy Perry have like the alcohol removed wine or something.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  31:56

I’m trying to remember what I know. There’s so much. No, but Blake Lively had Betty buzz, I believe, and it was alcohol-free. And she did this whole thing about wants to have great tasting sophisticated XYZ without alcohol. And then she just released Betty buzz infused with Oh, and I’m just like, oh, for fuck sake. You know?

 

32:19

I know. And hopefully I look at that as like, Oh, well. Yes. Okay, good. Now at least it’s coming to the, to the surface right now. We know these people don’t drink yet. Right? Like, it’s very clear. We’ve touted Blake Lively as like, See, she’s cool. She’s one of us. And now she’s releasing. It’s like, oh, well, this is a very clear why. Meaning one of us alcohol-free people. One of the like silver Sheik, you know, and the other thing I do love though, is more celebrities are talking about the fact that they stopped drinking for XYZ reasons. And you know, they’re Gen X Earth. A lot of us right there like Drew Barrymore, Kelly Ripa, us, and Garner is talking about it taking breaks from alcohol worrying about her alcohol consumption, what can happen? So, it goes both ways. Yeah. So, tell me about your Kettle One campaign.

 

33:26

Okay, so they, and this was like, early, maybe 2017 When I had kind of just started monetizing. It was more like the Wild West influencing was. There wasn’t like, I didn’t have an agent. I didn’t you know, and when you start, like, I was just like, okay, you’ll pay me. Great, you know, morels out the window. I don’t do that anymore, you guys. And it was for their, their botanical line. You know, they put flowers on the bottles, guys. That means that it’s you know, it’s healthy. It’s not ethanol. So why and then, so yeah, I took the campaign. I made it look very glamorous, because I know how to do that. I sat by my pool and like, you know, look at all this.

Look at look what life could be if you have cut a one botanicals in your glass. And then I poured it right down the drain. I did not even take a sip because even when I was drinking, I just didn’t drink vodka. I did not like vodka. And so, it was a lie. Yeah. Would anyone even looking at that ad campaign? No, it was the light. No, no.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  34:33

I haven’t tried the botanical right. And pro-life looks fabulous. Yeah.

 

34:40

Right. And in reality, it had nothing to do with that. And I think you know. We know that with ads. Like we know that. George Clooney isn’t drinking his tequila the motorcycle, right? Like, we kind of know that but social media gets tricky because when we think we know our influencers, and when we know their kids’ names, we know how long they breath. Know, like, trust. Yes, just implicitly trust like we’re in their homes. And even when it’s not an ad, even if it’s just a quote unquote “funny” reel to be relatable, so that Molly Sims can get likes. It’s still a lie.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  35:23

Yeah. And by the way, we do this, I used to do this. And now when you’re in early sobriety, I highly recommend you use. You don’t have to unfriend; you have to block that. Mute friends who are constantly posting about alcohol. And again, I kind of, I don’t cringe at my Facebook memories. But I do look at them to remember how deep I was because I was the one posting about, oh, my God, such a hard day. But now, I’ve got a bottle of wine with my girlfriend, and thank the Lord. But if you and you can see this, it’s shorthand. It’s a metaphor for sophistication for a night out for a date night. How many people take pictures of their cocktail, your friends, not influencers and post it as a Oh my God, thank God, I’m having a date night with my husband or on vacation or a night out with my girlfriends? And like how many people go on vacation and take pictures with their feet with their cocktail?

 

36:43

Yeah, yes. I mean, it’s all lies, right? We have no idea and we’re getting hip. We’re getting hip to social media and realizing how much goes on behind it. But I still think influencers are very confusing to people. And they don’t it’s still this it does feel still kind of wild west and that we will trust, and we don’t realize that big influencers are brands, they have marketing goals. They have sales metrics. They have all eight. It’s a brand and it’s not just some mom who’s sharing some tips that help her.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  37:27

Yeah, by the way, so like I said, been in the marketing industry and behind the scenes for like, forever. I pulled up net influencer, which is so helpful. And just kidding. I want to tell you so can I read you an article about how to use influencer marketing for alcohol brands, this is so helpful. How popular is the alcohol industry, it amounts to 261 billion industry expected to expand 11% year on year. This statistic highlights the significance that alcohol has on Western society and exemplifies the true competitiveness of the entire industry. Helpful, exciting, exciting tip the alcohol industry also saw an incredible boom during 2020 and effect that was said to be caused by the conditions of the pandemic. The Beverage Information Group, also a fabulous lobbying group notes that alcohol consumption increased by 45 million cases. So, helping to further understand how prevalent alcoholic beverages can be on the common consumer. So, I will link to this article in my show notes gives you useful information about can influencers promote alcohol on social media? Yes, they can. As long as they disclose influencers must not promote alcohol if more than 28.4% of their audiences under age 21. You know, so details. So, you know, they have fabulous, you know, examples of successful campaigns and then best practices for promoting alcohol with influencers. Number 2 do not promote any distasteful activity. Your influencer marketing campaign should highlight the most attractive selling points your product without referring to any type of alcohol beats. This means not showing influencers to be intoxicated or violent. Instead, ensure your influencer is describing how the drink tastes and showcasing safe and healthy alcohol consumption.

 

39:49

Safe and healthy. So, in other words, don’t show what the alcohol does. Just show the bottle because we’re too embarrassed by the effects of what we’re selling, so don’t show that just take a picture of the bottle and then shut up.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  40:06

Yeah, like you did by an article that is an open influence, right? How con spirits brands, one spoke to the masses with glossy TV ads and billboards. But now the new growing alcohol marketing strategies are sweeping the industry in the form of influencer marketing. Influencer Marketing pulls in big business for brands, the spend is supposed to hit $7 billion in 2019, and is expected to reach over 8 billion by 2024. And why better niche targeting engaged followers and brand humanization just to name a few fantastic benefits. I mean, this is not accidental. This is not accidental. And by the way, it works.

 

41:03

If it works. I mean, what stuck out to me in that first one was like, because of the issues with the COVID pandemic, you know, alcohol use was raised by whatever. And like, yeah, the issues. Let’s be that’s what we’re going to get. Like, that’s the point. The issues what were all mental health related that we were we were searching for connection and, and belonging and escape, and help with anxiety and help with sleep and help with an all of that shit. Alcohol makes worse. While we’re getting addicted to it.

 

41:41

Yeah, like, yeah, by the way trends to watch at home drinking.

 

41:47

Oh, my God. And this is what because obviously at home drinking, during the pandemic and the pandemic response, way increased. I don’t case you probably have that metric. But I know that it went up. And oh, God, what happens when we see our influencers in our phone? They’re in our homes right there in our homes. We don’t feel alone when our favorite influencer is in our home, on our phone, and she’s drinking too. And so, it doesn’t feel like we’re drinking alone.

 

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  42:18

Yeah, yeah. I mean, so many articles I will link to, but talking a different one talking about the shifts in alcohol marketing, and to combat the issue of being heard for brands to stand out from the crowd. The use of influencer marketing has been essential for many alcoholic beverage producers to boost sales, increase brand awareness and become household names. And the reason they love that influencers, right? Know, Like trust. And I’m saying this even from a big product brand, who so much of our budget shifted to digital marketing to influencer marketing. Like I said, we played a single influencer 20,000 a pop over 100,000 in a year for like, the smallest posts and by the way, they converted better than anything else. Yeah, but no, like trust factor in targeting, you can target specific groups that are interested in wine or look alike audiences of your email list, have a propensity to buy alcohol or follow Wine Enthusiast magazine, by the way, simply the eyes so people who drink a lot and who have excellent you know, are in the top 25% of income, you can target women who are married, who have kids, everything else and your marketing and the influencer, you choose are very specific to that mean that campaigns appeal to you. Mm hmm.

 

 

44:07

Oh, totally. And then on the influencer side of it, it’s there like deliverables from you know, any campaign especially an alcohol campaign Kettle One wasn’t the only one I did, but I did wine. I did other ones too. Very, very specific. Right. It’s just all I don’t know. I think people would be shocked at the amount of the contracts and the deliverables and everything that goes in to one sponsored posts on Instagram, especially when alcohol is involved.

 

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  44:41

Yeah, yeah. And then they report right, you know, yeah, details on.

 

Yeah. Sales. The other thing I would say which is interesting as Gen Xers. So, the biggest drinkers of wine. I mean. This podcast on the conversation, it was with reporters, and PhDs who’d written dissertations on alcohol in the changing nature of, you know, consumption with Gen Z. But they very specifically said that 2005 was the high of binge drinking among young people. So, I graduated college in 97. And they want to, you know, hook consumers when they’re young. So, they’re very worried about the Gen Z change. The alcohol industry produced a report. This is for industry, people saying, the American wine industry has an old people problem, they need to make changes fast, to find an audience with younger consumers. The biggest growth area so this executive vice president, a longtime analyst of the American wine industry, said the biggest growth area for wine was among 70 to 80 year old’s, followed by 60 to 70 year old’s, and then down 40 year old’s, I’m 47, huge, huge drinkers, but you know, it, they have to figure out how to attract younger audiences. And trust me that a lot of money is going into that, they have to figure it out. And that’s why it does feel like with Gen Z at the home, it feels like alcohol is definitely going to have a cigarette problem.

 

In 20 years, it’s going to be like, holy shit. Did you know that? You know, we look at you know, doctors in in cigarette ads now as insane and people could smoke in hospitals. And now that’s insane. I think that in 20 years, I hope. Anyway, we will look at, you know, wine bottles promoting breast cancer awareness as just the same as we look at Dr. Smoking now. Yeah.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  47:18

Oh, my gosh, the year before the report. And again, this is an alcohol industry wine industry analysts said last year’s report proposed an industry wide marketing campaign. Remember that campaign? Like from back in the day? Yardville? Yes. promotions of the 1990s graduate high. Graduate high school 93, College in 97. But the initiative was stymied when some in the industry objected to the mandatory contributions that would have financed that campaign. I mean, this is big, big, big, big, big money. Yes.

 

47:59

Ah, I feel like there’s going to be a class action lawsuit against big alcohol. I feel like, cause what are you doing tomorrow? Should we do it? Let’s do it tomorrow. Oh, yeah. Let’s just write it up.

 

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  48:14

Add up the bourbon alcohol. But like before, I’ve been tracking it. And in my first 30 days, alcohol free I did not ingest 40 bottles of wine. I mean, my poor little. I know. I mean, I’m not little but who I’m sure. I mean, so. It was just consumed a shitload of wine multiplied that over. Yeah, funny years. Damn, baby.

 

 

48:48

1. Um, I mean, it’s insane. It’s insane. And I think that all of this, all of this stuff is not widely known. It’s just not we don’t know how dangerous alcohol is. And we don’t realize all of the marketing dollars that are being put to make sure women drink it. Like, yeah, they just don’t we just, that’s why we’re doing it, guys. That’s why we’re going to.

 

Yeah, we’re just so you can be informed consumers, like, you know, the French paradox back in the day. She asked the question on 60 minutes and just too cold about like, why are French people so healthy? It’s probably because they drink wine red wine every day. Yeah, they also buy, you know, food for dinner every night. They walk a ton walk. They eat a lot of different foods that are, you know, more healthy, but forget that. Right? And then there was the one study, which has been disproven, like, literally 17 million times. That means moderate drinkers are healthier than people who don’t drink at all. And for all the reasons it’s untrue, but also because the people who don’t drink at all, often I have own misses where they can’t drink, or they used to have a problem with diction, they used to be huge drinkers, etcetera, etcetera, right?

 

 

50:24

I mean, it’s just anytime you’re confused, just replace alcohol with cigarettes and think about how insane that would sound like moderate smokers are healthier than the people who don’t smoke. To us. That sounds batshit crazy. And it’s the same thing with alcohol. It’s just that they’re the big tobacco has, you know, was sued, and now they have to have those labels on it. And it’s more widely known how dangerous and addictive it is.

 

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  50:53

Yeah. And the thing is, which I completely and totally agree with, like, we do shit every day, that is not good for us, right? And every single one of us often understands that the choices we make are not good for us, and we choose to do it anyway. Right. What I want to highlight is that with alcohol, we don’t know that it’s not good for us, like 70% of American women are not aware that alcohol is causes cancer, seven types of cancer just not aware. Just know that. Yeah. Choice.

 

 

51:38

Just know. I mean, most people don’t know that alcohol is ethanol. We don’t know that. There’s no difference between alcohol like wine and Jack Daniels, we don’t know that white claw is actually has more alcohol than some beers. We don’t know that because of marketing.

 

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  51:57

Well, not only that, we don’t know all the damage it causes.

 

52:02

And I’m actually anxiety. My mom’s a therapist and anxiety is I just, I don’t know, someone who’s not been plagued by anxiety, especially moms, especially women, especially with this in the age of overwhelm that we find ourselves in. I just don’t know. And that’s always the root of it for me, is that not only do women not know how dangerous and addictive alcohol is, but they’ve been taught that it will help. Yeah, and it will help make motherhood easier,

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  52:38

it helps relax you quote unquote, “it helps you sleep” – all of which are not untrue. But which is? I was completely and totally oblivious to it to the point where I would go to my therapist, like, you know, psychologist and say, I am waking up at three in the morning. I am so stressed. I’m so overwhelmed. And she prescribed me with no question. I’m sure I had originally on my intake form said I drank a couple of drinks a couple of times a week, prescribed me Ambien. And I was drinking a bottle of wine a night and taking Ambien, which is so dangerous. That’s awful. I just died. I did my sleep. Yeah, that’s how he died. A mom of a one year old. Yeah. And I mean,

 

53:26

malpractice. I mean, that’s like, so dangerous. And the problem with our health care practitioners is they are so stressed so overworked from COVID, and everything like that, that they also have are turning to alcohol. And if she were to talk to you about your alcohol use, and how dangerous it is, first of all, a lot of them don’t realize because they’re not taught it that she would have to look at her own. And as we know, it can be really scary to look at our alcohol use and our relationship with alcohol because of and I can’t

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  53:56

tell you how many private clients I have who are doctors who are therapists, right. And they’re deep in it too. Yeah, they’re also looking to justify and dismiss their own alcohol content. A lot of them have been like, Dude, I feel like a fraud. Like I deal with people like nurses with addiction. You have that inner anxiety, or they’re oblivious, right, and other friends drink that much on social. And, again, not judging. I mean, I cry all the stories about me gifting my girlfriend’s books called naptime. It’s the new Happy Hour and sippy cups are not for Chardonnay. Like that was like my go to your pregnant gift. So, for real, yeah, Gene but letting I you know, once you know you can’t unknow

 

54:55

and it does give. I hope that we can have compassion for ourselves. and just talking about how deeply rooted This is. This is why we’ve all been tricked, right? This isn’t just like that. There’s not a weakness in us that good marketing worked. And on everybody, you know, I was just in the hospital like for I’m fine, I’m fine. But there was a nurse. And she and I connected and we’re talking and, you know, I hate small talk, but I’ll talk about like family issues. I’m like, What’s your name? And like, what tribe? Are you carrying? You know, like loving, let’s get into it. So, she said that she stopped drinking, she was 30. She just turned 30. And she stopped drinking because of everything she kept seeing in the hospital that was alcohol related of her four patients. So, I was one of them, too, or detoxing from alcohol. And she said, that’s definitely not rare. It’s every day. I don’t think even people realize that you can die from detoxing from alcohol, not opioids, right? Like detoxing from opioids is safer than detoxing from alcohol, you can get all the seizures in what’s it called, I can’t remember what’s gone, but that it’s so dangerous to detox from alcohol. And she kept seeing it. And so she stopped drinking. I was like, well, good for you. So that 30 so

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  56:19

impressed by people who stopped drinking young. I just, I mean, I did not stop till I was 40. I stopped in the year I was 40. I could have kept going easily. I had just been worried about my alcohol consumption for a decade. And I my mental health was what made me stop. It was not worried about my physical health. It was I felt like I couldn’t cope. I would like sometimes lay in bed tingling, just trying to get through the day. And of course, I like blamed it on work. But also, I was like, fuck, it’s the alcohol. I know that.

 

57:01

Yeah, when you know, deep down, then yeah, you know, so and it is apparently also the marketing is changing, just so you’re aware. So, the studies and again, this is the lobbying industry for the alcohol industry, which is big, big bucks. They’re also influencing health practitioners. They’re also influencing the laws about what you can market and the warnings, but they said, marketing to younger consumers ought to amplify sustainability and social responsibility. A subject that wine is well positioned to highlight. Health Awareness is an area where wine has also seen success with so called literally this is the industry so-called, Clean Wines.

 

57:53

Oh, a large Cameron Diaz is oh largely meaningless term meant to imply healthfulness, they’re doing well. And then I mean, this is it says largely did does it say meaningless so called Clean wines, a largely meaningless term meant to imply healthfulness. By the way, this is not an in depth news article. This is a report to the alcohol industry about how to succeed goes on to say hard seltzers with a clear message of no added sugars, and few ingredients have excelled with health minded consumers. Unlike wine seltzers are required by the Food and Drug admin to add nutritional labor, by the way, unlike wine to their packaging, which works to their advantage. The wine industry has long resisted requirements for ingredients and nutritional information. So, like if you see this marketing, so called Clean wines, a largely meaningless term,

 

59:05

you guys that’s straight from them. That’s not even us saying they know it. They know that this organic wine is bullshit. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s how, yeah, organic ethanol. It’s largely meaningless. That’s insane. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, well, we’re going to be we’re going to be too smart for them. We are we’re going to spread it far and wide. We don’t care if it’s pink. We don’t care if you put flowers on the bottle. We don’t care if it’s healthier. If it’s organic. It’s all.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  59:39

Oh my God, so many breast cancer campaigns, including that my husband school like coaches against cancer basketball tournament are giving away baskets of wine and I like to lean over to my husband, and I was like, Do you know that people who drink a glass of wine three times a week have a 15% higher rate of breast cancer which increases with every glass of wine by 10% Like you know no one knows that not that I’m worried about my future just a high no. No one knows that that’s I didn’t know it

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  1:00:22

I didn’t know I didn’t know before I stopped Norris cancer has an entire fucking month. I mean, sorry. You know, the alcohol industries you know they capitalize on a ship and oh my god

 

1:00:37

and like whatever proceeds of this wine will go to you know 15% proceeds will go to Susan G. Komen you guys and they know they’re laughing all the way to the fucking bank. Yeah, incensed. I’m incensed. I no big no, as a consumer.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  1:00:56

I’m going to get another bad review about this anti wine. Oh, yeah.

 

1:00:59

Well, I feel like okay, but is it shocking that we’re anti wine? Are we supposed to be pro wine on here? We Yeah. Oh, I’m anti wine. I cosign that? Yeah, you guys don’t leave negative reviews. Just think positive review. Please, we spend hours and hours because blood sweat or tears, you see, okay, well, or to edit this content? Okay. Casey spends hours researching I spend literal zero hours researching and then I count on Casey. Your throat and air?

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  1:01:42

Yeah, what I love data, and research. And as a product marketer, it was key, including focus. We did so many focus groups around what worked, what didn’t what images what people think I would you know, online ban online sales of alcohol is huge. Now, that was one of the pandemic changes online ordering. And I mean, everything from where you click a be testing how people understand, etc., etc.

 

But again, article in the publication, the drinks business SVB report. I mean, Silicon Valley Bank, state of the US wine industry, in 2023. In January, older Americans are the only area of growth in wine consumption. It’s getting ready for a recession. The only people who are drinking more wine than previous surveys are people over 60. By the way, this is something they are incredibly worried about. Yeah. And to put millions of dollars to change.

 

1:03:02

Yes. And they’re coming for you. They’re coming for us. They’re coming for women and moms. Yeah.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  1:03:07

Yeah. Oh, by the way, in the report, the report reads amazingly, people over 60 their share of spend is still growing. The median boomers, those born 1946 to 1964 are on the other side of their normal retirement age of 66. And the spend in that cohort again, that is still growing, literally the industry report will have to define unless they somehow get a reprieve from death and taxes. I mean, this is Craig are crazy. They’re saying the quiet part out loud. They are they are in their report. They’re in the wine beverage drinks industry report.

 

1:04:04

Oh my god. Okay, what’s some good news?

 

1:04:10

Oh, tons of good news. Okay, good news. So, the nonalcoholic beer, wine and spirits industry is the only growing segment of the alcohol industry. By 30%. Year over year, my absolute favorite Athletic Brewing Company has become a billion dollar company in four years. I mean, amazing. I interviewed the founder of it. He quit drinking and was like, he was a hockey player from New England. He was like, I don’t want to feel like I’m in the penalty box. When I go to a bar, so I want to develop XYZ.

 

1:04:51

Oh, I see what he did there. I see what you did there with the blacks.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  1:04:54

And you know, they sponsor the Iron Man. They sponsor.

 

That’s amazing. Do they have influencers, who are Olympians right? Use this in a positive way? Gen Z and millennials are drinking significantly less than their parents and grandparents at the same age. They do realize the mental health issues, they realize the cancer issues, they realize the shit that goes down, including violence, bad decisions, the propensity of sexual assaults that occur when women are intoxicated, but also when men are intoxicated. Yes, they are wise to this shit. And Gen X, our generation women, mothers still drinking a lot, but starting to decline, right? Yeah, as we get wise to it, people talk about it openly as there are more options to stop drinking and calling yourself an alcoholic and going to a Civil Rights Program. Although if that helps you, God bless you do it. It works for some people. But it also, if that’s the only option, it’s a lot of people from stopping drinking. So, like, is that enough? Good news. That’s

 

1:06:19

great news. That’s great news. Because it’s so hopeful. And it really does feel like the tide is turning, it might be turning slower than we want it to be. But it’s turning.

 

There’s no shortage of women who are struggling with this. And that’s good news and bad news. The good news is you are not alone. You are absolutely not alone. If you are struggling with this, if you are worried if you rationalize this, every single day, if you say you’re not going to drink, but by 5pm, you are buying wine, if you pour out your wine and the next day buy more, you are not alone. It is not your fault.

 

1:08:33

Yes, and you’re not going to You’re not alone, and you don’t have to be silent. You can speak up. And that doesn’t mean that you will have to wear this label for the rest of your life. There are other women out there just like you who are figuring it out, and who are finding freedom and sobriety.

 

I feel that this is a truly important topic, just because you see it everywhere. And I know so many women, myself included, who are so deep in believing this stuff. And when you stop drinking, there are like all the phases right? Denial, you know, yada yada. anger, anger is once you’ve stopped, you’re just like, oh my god, this is everywhere. And these are not true. And what I’ve been duped.

 

1:12:44

Right, right. I’ve been tricked. And I get pissed. I get pissed at the triggers. And I also get pissed at alcohol. And I’m like, You know what? Alcohol doesn’t give a fuck about me. I’m not going to let it anywhere near me anymore. Like, yeah, I’m done being tricked. I’ve tried it.

 

Casey McGuire Davidson  1:12:59

And by the way, like you said this to your friends are like, Oh, I still drink like, Oh my God, my husband drinks. Yeah, mine too. I love my friends who I drank with still drink. Like I said, we do stuff all the time. All the time. Yeah, we know it is not good for us. Trust me. I do plenty of shit. That’s not good. For me. That is a choice. We just want you to be aware.

 

I knew I wanted to talk about this. And I knew you were the perfect person.

 

Oh, thank you. Yeah. All right. Thanks for listening, guys. Yeah. All right. Next time. Yeah. Till next time.