Brewers prepare to seduce young drinkers

[BERIGAN]

Brewers prepare to seduce young drinkers with wave of 'Viagra pops'

(Someone, quick! Make a joke!!!)

Stephen Khan

Sunday March 23, 2003

The Observer

Libido-boosting drinks will flood into bars this summer as young clubbers are targeted with a potent new range of products that have been dubbed 'Viagra pops'.

Powerful blends of Chinese aphrodisiacs, vodka and passion fruit will create a 'generation of randy super beings', according to drinks manufacturers who expect the new tipples to rock the market the way alcopops did in the 1990s.

None will actually contain Viagra, produced by the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer, relying instead on Chinese herbs such as cordyceps and epimedium grandiflorum, better known as Horny Goat Weed.

The first of these 'passion potions', Roxxoff, will sell for as little as £1.50 when it rolls out across the UK over the next month. Drinks industry sources suggest that at least three other firms are poised to launch their own versions.

'This is what everyone in the business is talking about,' said one insider. 'For months now firms have been trying to get the blends right in time for the warm weather.'

Marketing experts say the new sector could spawn sales of more than five million cases in the first year alone.

Surrey-based Lynch Wines is launching Roxxoff, which has an alcohol content of 5.4 per cent, in a series of adverts featuring Dannii Minogue wearing little and holding a bottle.

Its publicity proclaims a 'sensational scientifically blended concoction of potent and proven aphrodisiacs' that could lead to 'a generation of randy super beings'.

Campaigners for the responsible use and sale of alcohol are appalled at the prospect. Jack Law, of the Glasgow-based group Alcohol Focus, has called for a ban on Roxxof, claiming it breaches industry guidelines set up by The Portman Group, launched by top brewers to promote sensible drinking. 'Portman's code of practice states any drink or its packaging should not suggest any association with sexual success or that it can enhance physical capabilities,' he said.

'Roxxoff, sends out a completely irresponsible message to the young drinkers it is aimed at and will only increase the likelihood of binge drinking and unsafe sex.'

Campaigners at Alcohol Concern warned that such drinks could lead to an increase in date rapes and teenage pregnancies. 'We would like to see these banned, whether they improve sexual performance or not,' a spokesman said. 'Lots of surveys have suggested teenagers regret having unprotected sex when drunk, so this is worrying.'

A spokesman for Lynch Wines countered: 'Many young people go to clubs and bars to meet people with a view to having sex - we are just helping them on their way.

'We are acutely aware of our responsibilities. This doesn't look like a kid's drink and isn't designed to fool one into thinking it's lemonade.'

Horny Goat Weed's combination of botanical ingredients is thought to enhance sexual performance through a variety of mechanisms including increased production of testosterone and other hormones. It has been used in traditional botanical medicine for hundreds of years in China, South America and India.

http://www.observer.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,...,920079,00.html

[Big Wheel]

Obviously, the likes of me did not take part in the focus groups...

B)

Edited March 23, 2003 by Big Wheel

[JSngry]

God, if I'd have known that there was money in being drunk and horny, I'd have gottten an agent a LOOOOONG time ago...

[Noj]

I dunno if these new perv boy drinks could replace the delicious Sapporos I just guzzled.