New Zealand police are pulling a range of boxed cocktails from liquor store shelves around the country because it's been decided they look a bit too cutesy.
They concluded that the 'Boxtail' drinks - which are cocktails that come in a juice box - look too much like they are made for kids.
An inspector from Police Alcohol Harm Prevention, Hamish Milne, told Newshub that under-18s might think the drinks aren’t booze, which would not be ideal.
“Out concern is the small containers might be confused or mistaken by children to be a non-alcoholic drink,” he said.
Looking at the drinks, they would not look out of a place in a lunchbox, even with the ‘18+’ sign and the ‘alcoholic cocktails’ on the packaging. But you gotta remember, when a kid sees a juice box, they aren’t taking the time to read it, they’ll just tear that baby open and start sipping.
Basic Brands, the Australian company behind Boxtails, also sell larger Boxtail casks complete with a tap (they’re pretty much cocktail goon bags) and covered in little emoji-like fruits and symbols.
Inspector Milne said that these emoji-esque symbols could also confuse little ones.
“The emojis on these containers are things like fruit, pineapple, etc. A child looking at them might think it’s a simple non-alcoholic juice,” he said.
Police also talked to a marketing expert Karen Fernandez, who thought the emojis’ adorableness is where their danger lies.
“The mai tai juice box just has a very cute picture of a pineapple on it. A parent might not even know, a chaperone might not even know that it is alcohol or juice.”
Basic Brands agreed to pull the drinks, but do not seem too happy about the whole debacle.
The co-founder of the company, Mark Collins, said that whether something looks like it's marketed to a child is in the eye of the beholder.
“It is the most bizarre and laughable process that a law can be enforced based on nothing more than a couple of people’s subjective opinions,” he told Newshub.
He also said the packaging of the drinks deters arseholes who trying to slip drugs into unsuspecting victims' drinks.
“We see the range as socially responsible, the first-ever liquor packaging to provide a part solution to a filthy problem.”
