Concerns raised as team behind BuzzBallz launch 99p shots 'designed to appeal to children'

BuzzBallz, ready-to-drink cocktails sold in a colourful, spherical container, have become popular with Gen Z in recent years, particularly on TikTok, where tasting videos and cocktail hacks have gone viral.

The company who created the popular drinks, Sazerac, has now pitched a new product positioned as a 'nostalgia buy', rolling out an ice-cream van called the 99 Liquor Whip.

The travelling ice-cream van served complimentary soft serves infused with shots at university campuses this month.

However, 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 told the Guardian: "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.”

The shot brand launched in the UK with 20 flavours and is available at various off-licenses and online.

Roberts has called for better regulation, noting that while alcohol industry says products should not be designed to particularly appeal to children, “examples like this keep appearing”.

Meanwhile, Joe Marley, executive director at Alcohol Change UK, told the outlet: “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.

"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.

“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.”

Reacting to the concerns about the new rollout, Sazerac said it took "underage drinking seriously, which is why all activity is governed by strict UK alcohol marketing, retail and age-verification standards”.

The company added: “Price alone does not determine whether a product appeals to minors; responsible marketing, clear adult targeting, and robust retail compliance are the critical factors.”

Sazerac insisted the new product had been marketed “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,” it concluded.