Tropicana's Holiday PR Fail
Rethinking our drinking, one commercial at a time
Hello, I’m Sarah Kate, editor of Some Good Clean Fun - a space empowering women to rethink drinking, whether you drink a lot or not.
I’m so happy and grateful you are joining me in daring to be different and choosing to rethink drinking. If you’ve signed up for the free newsletter, you’re getting this as a sneak peak of what is in store for the weekly premium subscribers. I hope you’ll join the movement to rethink drinking!
Where to begin?
I couldn’t see it until I chose to, but there is a permissive and toxic narrative in society about women and drinking. This narrative encourages moms and women to over-drink, everywhere we turn. It’s subliminal and enough exposure creates self-conscious acceptance. Unfortunately, we don’t talk enough about the real impacts of drinking, so women can make an informed decision. I want to start that conversation!
I went to the ends of the earth to be healthy. When I was still choosing wine every night, I was also running marathons, drinking gluten-free organic oat milk, drinking out of stainless steel and buying non-toxic skin care. It’s almost laughable (because alcohol is ethanol, which is a poison…right?).
We made the decision as a collective gender to take on drinking like a man, and now we need to create a collective movement to rethink it. I want us to rethink our habitual acceptance of messages around us. Let’s start with the Tropicana Mimosa-gate scandal.
Tropicana’s Fail
Unless you’re American, and unless you follow sobriety influencers, this enormous PR fail probably didn’t hit your radar.
This past holiday season, Tropicana’s PR agency team MullenLowe PR and Cramer-Krasselt launched an influencer campaign called #takeamimoment. They sent OJ, champagne and mini-fridges disguised as things like tool chests and laundry hampers to high-profile celebrities and influencers, encouraging them to hide their alcohol, and then hide-away from their families to drink a Mimosa when things got tough. The messaging was that parents (aka Moms - target market) needed to get away for self-care, during this difficult holiday season.
The outrage from the sobriety and recovery community was palpable. Hiding alcohol, and hiding drinking, are two major signs of an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. It’s very unsettling that two HUGE PR companies didn’t do their due diligence and assess this sensitivity. The research they touted was that half of parents use the bathroom to hide away from it all - so why not drink, right?
Sober Mom Squad and many other influencers in the US took to social media to bring down Tropicana. Eventually the ads were pulled. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. The ads garnered millions of impressions, most likely amongst women who aren’t dialled into the sober community and wouldn’t understand that it’s not humorous.
I like to point these things out, so that we can all see them for what they are. I’m not suggesting you dump all your champagne out - but take a moment to think critically about the next glass you’re having. Are you drinking a Mimosa because you need it, or are you drinking it because you think you have to? There’s a big difference, so that’s the challenge I will leave you with!
Have a great (hopefully hangover free) weekend!
Love, and other indoor sports,
-Sarah Kate