Beatbox Sounds Newest Path To Alcohol Poisoning
The Row’s new drink of choice isn’t so harmless.
By Ashley Yang, Opinion Editor
DPS is enforcing the ban on serving hard alcohol at frat parties? The ever-innovative Greeks at USC, with a little help from some colorful containers of boxed wine have, within three weeks of the start of the semester found their newest quick ticket to blackout.
Beatbox, a self-proclaimed “wine-based cocktail” in a box, has completely supplanted Franzia (and Andre champagne, on the few occasions when you’re trying to impress) as the beverage of choice at parties on the Row. Its “fun” fruit flavors, bulk size packaging and 11.1 percent alcohol content make it the ideal choice for college kids trying to get drunk quickly and cheaply without grimacing through the taste of alcohol. The stuff still tastes like jungle juice concocted by a newbie pledge, but it sure beats the burning sensation running down your throat when you take shots.
How we consume this new cult favorite, however, warrants closer scrutiny. Because judging by the way we drink it now, Beatbox has the potential to create far more binge drinking and alcohol poisoning (and you thought it wasn’t possible at USC!) than hard liquor served at parties ever did.
Beatbox tastes like “gatorade with a kick.” Or according to Total Frat Move, if “Franzia and Four Loco had a baby.” Even though its alcohol content isn’t really higher than that of normal boxed wine, it doesn’t feel like you’re drinking wine. You’re not counting how many drinks you’ve had, or how much was in each cup, because it seems like you could care less — after all, how hard could a drink called “Beatbox” possibly hit you? It’s more difficult to be vigilant about respecting your limits because it’s not immediately clear what category Beatbox falls into. Is it a mixed drink (so I know I can’t have more than 3 before I get drunk)? Is it wine (in which case I can maybe have one more)? Is it jungle juice (so I should see how I feel after every drink before I take another one)?
Apparently, the distinction is so hazy that at some parties people play beer pong with it. That’s right. Drinking games normally played with beer at 4 percent alcohol are now using something almost three times as strong, all because Beatbox “seems safe.”
This uncertainty is dangerous. The choice to have one more drink is made more or less within seconds and becomes less deliberate as the night goes on. Being able to quickly decide whether you really can tolerate that next drink makes the difference between a good night and one that ends in vomit, several friends escorting you home and possibly an ambulance.
Beatbox’s branding, however reduces these risks into a marketing ploy that openly encourages binge drinking. The handprint on the bag, one of its self-avowed official logos says it all, not to mention the neon-colored branding and five liter packaging. Beatbox is definitely made for an “epic party,” where slap-the-bag and chugging are practiced with such regularity that they are no longer seen as forms of high-risk drinking.
From a market standpoint, Beatbox is an ideal product. It satisfies the expectations of its target consumer group (college kids, many of whom are Greek who love to party) and has positioned itself as a safe party drink in comparison to hard liquor, which works perfectly in tandem with alcohol policies on many campuses like USC. But with regard to student safety, Beatbox’s surge in popularity is liable to cause more problems than before current restrictions were implemented.
From the way it is being indiscriminately downed by freshmen and seniors alike, Beatbox is anything but safe. As other forms of alcohol become phased out by Beatbox, students must be just as vigilant about respecting their limits — because sometimes, you know you really can’t have that next drink.
Opinion Editor Ashley Yang is a sorority member and a regular fixture on the Row. Contact her here or follow her on Twitter.
