Young people who are committed to rectifying the unhealthy drinking table culture have found a very innovative "mouthpiece" for drinking parties.

Written by | Guo Baoyou

Young people who enjoy casual drinks anywhere prioritize self-indulgence

After finishing a week of high-intensity work and walking out of the office building, 24-year-old Xinran did not rush to catch the nearest subway as usual, but walked into an izakaya near her company.

This is the moment she looks forward to most all week. Every Friday after work, Xinran gathers here with her friends, chatting about gossip and having a few drinks. After getting slightly tipsy, she walks home, takes a quick shower and falls asleep immediately, sleeping straight through to the next morning.

It seems that the moment she picks up the wine glass, the long day finally belongs entirely to herself. For some young people, a glass of beer is always a must-have companion in those relaxed and comfortable moments. Some netizens even sighed on social media, "The night before the two-day weekend is the perfect match for beer."

Image source: Unsplash

The female protagonist in the Japanese drama My Late-Night Drinking Style is just the same. As a real estate salesperson, her biggest hobby is to go home and have a glass of perfect ice-cold beer after exhausting all her physical strength and energy for the whole day. For this glass of wine, she leaves work on time every day, first goes to the sauna to steam her body thoroughly, then goes to the supermarket to carefully select side dishes, goes home to prepare dinner, takes the pre-frozen glass out of the refrigerator, fills it with beer, and takes the first sip heartily. The alcohol slides down her throat, and the whole day's fatigue and internal friction are dissipated along with it.

Whether it's getting slightly tipsy in a bar or having a small drink at home, today's young people have long separated drinking from the "social etiquette and trivial human relations" of traditional wine tables, and turned it into a matter of "pleasing themselves". They care more and more about who they drink with, how much they drink, and how they drink. According to the Youth Alcohol Consumption Report released by "OhYouth", 70% of young people are willing to drink at home, and 77.5% of young people will take their close friends as their drinking buddies.

Miranda, a sophomore student, takes her roommates as her drinking buddies. Earlier this year, the girls even made a special trip to visit a home bar, huddled on the soft sofa and chatted while drinking beer. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, those who did not go home felt bored staying in the dormitory, so they ran to the supermarket near the school to buy a few cans of beer. They put on comfortable pajamas, applied facial masks on their faces, moved stools to huddle together, and watched variety shows while drinking.

Young people have even broken the scene restrictions of drinking, turning it into a new trend of "drinking casually anywhere".

On short video platforms, they never get tired of playing "drinking and makeup challenge", "drunkard challenge" and "convenience store drinking challenge" with their friends. Every time she watches a movie, Xinran also has a fixed routine: she buys beer at the convenience store first, brings it into the cinema, and takes a sip from time to time with her friends along with the plot. On social media, there are also young people traveling with suitcases who will stop in front of the self-service craft beer machine at Hohhot Airport in Inner Mongolia to get a glass of fresh beer before takeoff, washing away the tiredness of the journey.

More and more young people are beginning to enjoy the casualness and freedom when they pick up the wine glass. They can be alone, or with people who understand them. They can drink to find a moment of relaxation, or to reward themselves at important nodes in life, or even have no reason at all, just simply feel that the atmosphere is right, and have a joyful toast gathering to the fullest.

Clinking beats chugging: a new solution for young people's wine tables

It is a happy thing for everyone to get together to celebrate.

But once the party gets bigger and there are more people, young people sometimes find that the way of celebration has quietly distorted — somehow, the wine table becomes "chugging just for the sake of chugging".

For example, although Xinran likes the lively atmosphere when everyone gathers together, in every department team building with more than a dozen people, once the atmosphere gets high, everyone keeps proposing to "drain the glass". Xinran doesn't want to spoil the fun, but she also doesn't want to be kidnapped by the rule of "must chug". In her opinion, draining glass after glass instead loses the fun of drinking and gathering.

Li Li, 22 years old and a postgraduate freshman this year, is very active in Sichuan fellow villagers' associations. She especially enjoys the intimacy of everyone chatting freely in their hometown dialect. But in the successive "toast sessions", Li Li, who has limited alcohol tolerance, still can't stand it. Caught in a dilemma, she has always wanted to find a way that does not spoil the fun and allows her to clink glasses at her own pace.

Budweiser China just handed her a heartwarming "prop".

Last year, Budweiser China launched a limited dialect version of "Smart Clink Sticker" in Wuhan. When the glasses collide, a genuine Wuhan dialect line comes out: "Just clink once, and our friendship will be solid". The highly internet-savvy design relieves the pressure of mandatory chugging at the wine table, and makes the concept of "clink more, chug less" go viral. This year, Budweiser China fully upgraded this "wine table mouthpiece", launching 7 versions of "Smart Clink Stickers" at one go, expanding from Wuhan to six major regions across the country —

At the wine tables in the western region, there is the relaxed and casual line: "The beer tastes great, but don't overdo it"; at the wine tables in the northeast region, it becomes a down-to-earth warm reminder: "Buddy, take it easy"; the line from the eastern region "Take two sips of beer, feel comfortable and just right" reveals the calmness of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai area; the lines from the southern and southeastern regions "Drink slowly, chat longer" and "Sip lightly for long-lasting friendship" are warm and considerate; plus the iterated Wuhan dialect version "Clink the glasses, don't rush, drink slowly" and the nationwide Mandarin version "Cheers to smart drinking!", 7 expressions with regional characteristics speak out the unspoken words of young people at the wine table.

As soon as the clink stickers appear, the style of the wine table changes. Imagine the scene: when a warm fellow villager comes over with a wine glass to "chug" with Li Li, the two glasses collide, and suddenly the line "The beer tastes great, but don't overdo it" pops up, and the originally somewhat serious toasting atmosphere is instantly broken. It seems to tell everyone at the wine table in a relaxed way, "clink more, chug less", helping everyone retrieve the original intention of celebrating by clinking glasses.

In a lively gathering, the ideal state for young people is to live up to every happy gathering while always keeping a clear head.

Budweiser China also offers a new solution. When you walk into some bars and restaurants, you will see that the point-of-sale staff and store managers have put on the "Extended Gathering Kit", and become game buddies who play "vision challenge" and "mouthpiece challenge" with you. They will test your state in the game, once they notice that your reaction speed starts to slow down, they will smoothly hand you a glass of Budweiser non-alcoholic beer, encouraging consumers to choose non-alcoholic products according to their own situation.

Young people's control over alcohol intake is not limited to lively gatherings with many people.

Away from the traditional wine table and coming to their own carnival venue, they also strictly hold this defense line. Even in places with natural "high" attributes such as Livehouses and music festivals, the carnival way of getting drunk while jumping has become outdated, experience-first young people care more about whether they have enjoyed themselves on site.

Budweiser China also moved the cleverly designed "Smart Drinking" table cards into the Tomorrowland music festival in Shanghai, encouraging everyone to express the festive atmosphere in a more relaxed way by checking in for photos and distributing "Smart Clink Stickers". Here, music and on-site experience are the protagonists, and "smart drinking" helps everyone enjoy every wonderful moment in a more comfortable state.

This wave of sober carnival has also extended all the way to sports stadiums. In its strategic cooperation with FIFA, Budweiser China not only creates a warm atmosphere for fans when watching the game, but also hopes to pass the concept of "smart drinking" to more people — for example, advocating fans to arrange their own drinking rhythm in different scenarios, and pay more attention to enjoying the game and taking care of themselves.

After all, only by maintaining the right state can you not miss every second of the wonderful moments.

The new philosophy of "Smart Drinking"

The older generation is well versed in the worldly sophistication at the wine table, while young people have figured out their own wine table wisdom. They no longer cling to the fixed mode of "chugging", but wisely find their own drinking rhythm.

After experiencing various large and small lively gatherings, Xinran, who has been working for the second year, has long learned to handle them with ease. Last time in the department team building, she took the initiative to pick up her wine glass, but did not tilt her head to chug it all, instead took a gentle sip, "Let's clink glasses more times, and savor the wine slowly."

Miranda also learned the trick of "alternating drinking with non-alcoholic beer" during the student union team building. After drinking a glass of wine, she quietly switches to non-alcoholic beer for herself. She thinks the ideal drinking party should be like this: you can choose to focus on eating, or choose to raise a glass and drink together, no one will stare at the bottom of your glass to see if you have drained it. No matter what the alcohol content is, no matter what kind of drink it is, everyone can still have a great time together.

"Smart drinking", which allows independent control of rhythm, has become the new wine table philosophy for young people. And Budweiser China is a firm companion behind this philosophy.

As early as 2008, Anheuser-Busch InBev's predecessors, Anheuser-Busch International and InBev Group, joined hands with the predecessor of the association — China Alcoholic Drinks Industry Association, to take the lead in launching the rational drinking initiative, taking the first step of "smart drinking". The next year, employees became publicity ambassadors to convey the concept of "smart drinking" to more people. In the following years, Budweiser China joined forces with stars, traffic police, associations and other parties to speak out, making the safety awareness of "don't drink and drive" deeply rooted in more people's hearts.

Of course, simply conveying the concept is far from enough, Budweiser China is also providing more independent and flexible drinking choices for young people, returning the right to choose drinking to young people in a non-intrusive way that does not spoil the fun.

In 2019, Budweiser China launched its first non-alcoholic beer, giving young people a new burden-free drinking option; last year, it launched the "Smart Clink Sticker" to encourage young people to "clink more, chug less"; this year, it launched game interactions to call on young people to alternate drinks.

In the view of Budweiser China, "smart drinking" is never simply "drink less". It is the relaxation of "clink more, chug less", the calmness of drinking slowly while having meals, the choice of alternating drinking with non-alcoholic beer, and the bottom line of "don't drink and drive". Gathering itself is for sharing happiness, and should not bring any pressure and burden. Budweiser China has implemented "smart drinking" for the 19th consecutive year, hoping to advocate a more inclusive festive atmosphere where everyone can get the same understanding and respect, whether they raise a glass or not.

As night falls, wine glasses collide, and the "Smart Clink Sticker" sends out the familiar hometown accent. No one is pressing forward with a full glass of wine, and no one is frowning to prove deep affection