The many risks implied by alcoholic milk tea are not eliminated, and even trendy mix-and-match is destined to be far away.
▲A brand of alcohol-based milk tea drink publicity map. Photo / The official public account of the tea brand
Text | Summer Bear Fly
In the milk tea market with new brands emerging in an endless stream, it is difficult to ensure that the business is long-term by relying on the word "net red", and it is necessary to continuously introduce new products to attract consumers. Recently, changsha milk tea industry has risen to mix and match, and among them, "alcohol + milk tea" is the most popular. A number of popular milk tea shops have launched new alcoholic milk tea drinks.
Alcohol and milk tea are two things that originally can't be hit together by eight rods, and mixing and matching together is indeed trendy enough, but the risk is not small. According to media reports, after some alcoholic milk tea is drunk, the test will meet the criteria for determining drunk driving. Two volunteers have exceeded the level of "drunk driving" judgment, and one volunteer has a similar drunken state such as obvious blushing and dizziness.
It can be seen that although the alcohol content of alcoholic milk tea is not high, the main focus of the business is also a "micro-drunk" gimmick, but after drinking such alcoholic milk tea, driving is likely to be detected drunk driving, and even cause traffic accidents. The positioning of milk tea may make some drivers ignore the fact that it contains alcohol, and then relax the vigilance of "driving without drinking, drinking without driving".
The more serious problem is that minors such as students, one of the main consumer groups of milk tea, are very likely to be exposed to alcoholic beverages as a result. According to the Regulations of Hunan Province on the Administration of Alcohol, alcohol refers to alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content greater than 0.5%. The Law on the Protection of Minors clearly stipulates that alcohol is prohibited from being sold to minors.
▲ Middle school students go to a brand of milk tea shop to buy alcoholic milk tea, and the clerk does not take the initiative to inform the drink of alcohol. Photo/ Screenshot of Mango City video report
When the media reporter visited, it was found that some alcoholic milk teas had an "alcohol content of 2 to 3 degrees", which clearly belonged to the liquor category. Some merchants will take the initiative to introduce milk tea containing alcohol when minors buy but do not prevent them from purchasing, and some merchants do not even introduce or remind, nor verify the identity of minors, which may have been suspected of violating the law.
Obviously, alcoholic beverages quietly sneak into the group of minors through milk tea, and relevant functional departments, businesses, and parents should not take it lightly.
It is necessary for market supervision and other departments to strengthen the management of alcohol and milk tea sales in the market, especially to adhere to the "zero tolerance" attitude on the issue of sales to minors. As a merchant's milk tea shop, when selling alcoholic milk tea, it must fulfill the obligation of introduction and reminder, especially in the face of underage consumers, to keep the red line of "alcohol is prohibited from being sold to minors". Otherwise, the product will inevitably "roll over", and the merchant will also be suspected of violating relevant laws and regulations.
Many of the risk factors implied by alcoholic milk tea are not eliminated, and even the trendy mix-and-match is doomed to be far away, and the title of "net red" will eventually fade.
Author | Xia Xiongfei (Media Person)
Edit | Li Xiaoxiao
Intern | Geng Xinyue
Proofreading | Liu Yue