Alcohol Industry Insiders Issue ‘Responsibility Commitment’ for Nostalgic Releases Like SunnyD Vodka Seltzer, Minute Maid Spiked

(Photo: Twisted Tea)

On Monday, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States joined forces with prominent producers, suppliers and retailers to issue recommendations on the rising popularity of crossover alcohol products.

Exemplified by beverages like Simply Spiked Lemonade and SunnyD Vodka Seltzer, products within the category take an established, often nostalgia-worthy drink and repackage it with a boozy twist. The genre has taken off like wildfire over the past few years with co-signs from industry regulars like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.

As the colorful category has grown, observers have begun questioning the hazy distinction between child-friendly beverages and their similarly packaged alcoholic counterparts. In a complaint submitted to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in 2022, a coalition of wholesalers wrote that crossover products were often placed near “children’s toys and juice drinks.” The letter called for federal oversight.

Alongside the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, the Food Industry Association and the National Association of Convenience Stores, DISCUS has now published a “responsibility commitment” laying down guidelines for the marketing and sale of these contested products.

“Today’s commitment brings together all three tiers – suppliers, wholesalers and retailers – reinforcing our dedication to responsibly advertise, market and merchandize these products in a manner that avoids consumer confusion and ensures they are only marketed and sold to legal drinking age adults,” DISCUS President and CEO Chris Swonger said in a statement.

Most of the principles come down to common sense, albeit in ways that concede how tricky a tightrope these beverages walk. Producers are instructed to create “distinct and distinguishable” drinks that “primarily appeal to legal drinking age adults.” Another bullet point bluntly recommends that retailers “notice that product contains alcohol.”

(Photo: Coca-Cola)

It’s hard to identify the exact origins of the crossover category, though its ballooning popularity can certainly be credited to Coca-Cola. Within the past three years, the company has launched Jack & Coke canned cocktails, Minute Maid Spiked, Fresca Mixed, Topo Chico Hard Seltzer and Absolut Vodka Spiked.

Since soft drink companies can’t handle alcohol production in-house, these products come courtesy of collaborations with brewers and distillers. In March, PepsiCo teamed up with AB InBev to announce the launch of Hard 7up in Canadian markets. Another PepsiCo-owned product, Hard MTN Dew, is brewed by Boston Beer Company, the producer behind Angry Orchard and Samuel Adams.

On the truly eyebrow-raising side of the spectrum, we’ve also seen beverages like the recent Welch’s Craft Cocktails and Rocket Pop Twisted Tea (also made by Boston Beer Company).

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