Survival within a system does not equate endorsement of that system—nor does it invalidate all critiques of that system.
Welcome to the first newsletter of 2022, which happens to be happening during January, or as many like to now call it “Dry January.” (Although I have seen people refer to it as “Soberuary” and whatever midlevel agency creative came up with that needs to be reassigned—no offense. (ok maybe yes offense.)) Dry January is supposed to be the month where people stop drinking for 31 days in an attempt to atone for the overindulgences of the previous, more festive months. As someone who has enjoyed dry periods of varying duration over the past decade, I can say it’s a noble effort. Drinking alcohol is a risky activity. We like to comfort ourselves by saying that small amounts of alcohol can have heart-health benefits (mostly untrue). Wine has resveratrol! Beer has electrolytes. Okay….sure. Alcohol is the third-leading preventable cause of death in the USA, not to mention “second-hand drinking” that causes harm like car crashes, interpersonal violence, and property damage.
So yeah, taking four+ weeks off from alcohol? Great idea. I love it. When I stop drinking for long periods of time, pretty much everything in my life gets better: my anxiety baseline plummets, my sleep is of course way better, my sense of smell goes through the roof, and I am at my most creative and unhinged on social media when I am stone, okay-to-operate-heavy-machinery sober. (Like, if I ever go quiet on twitter or Instagram for more than a day or two, something’s up.)
What gets me is this increasingly prevalent marketing idea that we need to consume ourselves out of a problem that we’ve caused by our own overconsumption. It feels like buying something you don’t need at all and justifying why you bought it by saying “it was on sale!” As if 20% off is somehow better than the 100% off you get by not buying something. Or when some consumer product claims to be zero-waste, or carbon neutral/negative or donate a percentage of nebulously-defined “proceeds” to a given charity. Incrementalism is a valid way of accomplishing big goals and there are real benefits to doing things slightly better, but it’s really just marketing. People spend money on things because they believe that the thing will benefit them in some way, and “feeling good” about the purchase is a very powerful—and real—benefit. But is this really just mollifying us against making more challenging changes with more significant impacts?
(This also reminds me of a visit a few years ago to Los Angeles during a drought where many restaurants proudly proclaimed that they were only providing water upon request as a way to conserve water without any seeming awareness that one kilogram of beef costs 15,000 liters of water to produce, or one glass of wine needs 120 liters to produce. But saying you only give tap water to those that ask for it is considerably more obvious and allows you to *feel* like you’re doing something without actually having to make a meaningful change. (And lol everyone asks for water anyway.))
For zero-proof drink makers like myself, Dry January is our Black Friday. In January of 2021 my shopify sales were twice the normal average. This month already sales have been great and I’ve got press inquiries keeping me busy. In order to survive, I need the craven marketing concept known as Dry January.
This all reminds me of the “Mister Gotcha” comic by Matt Bors where some unhelpful douchebag pops out at people who dare to advocate for a slightly better way of doing things. Yes, I need Dry January in order to build a successful business and keep Proteau existing in the world, but at the same time I don’t think the answer is to suffocate our out-of-control desires with added layers of material consumption. Maybe instead we consider what true sobriety might mean and duck dive into the waves of life’s despairs and meaninglessnesses instead of retreating to the comforting shores of hyperconsumption.
That said, I did an awesome Dry January cocktail for Food52 and you should check it out. The video is HERE.
And speaking of zero-proof drinks, Proteau’s equity crowdfunding campaign is accepting reservations so you can be a part of growing the brand. Check out the full deal page HERE.
Additional Dry January Content:
I was on Josh Gandee’s No Proof podcast the other day and it was a great conversation, check it out here:
And if you’re craving additional Dry January tidbits, you should take a look at Wirecutter’s guide from 2021 about the best non-alcoholic drinks on the market, I am quoted as an expert and Ludlow Red and Rivington Spritz are both highlighted. Read it HERE.
Also, if you haven’t checked it out, my dear friend Julia Bainbridge’s Good Drinks is an excellent primer on the current state of non-alcoholic mixology. (Also my book has a cute lil chapter dedicated to non-alc cocktails too.)
In other news, I am completely overtaken by the Weeknd’s new album that came out last Friday. I’ve loved The Weeknd since the beginning but he just keeps getting better and better. To me, it’s perfect pop.
Take My Breath gives me chills still even though I’ve listened to it 500 times and the darkly hilarious irony of a song like this coming out during a respiratory pandemic is….not lost on me. Gasoline is another standout on the album and the video just came out today.
Aside from the music, I love how he does so much modifying of his face for each album’s era. The most obvious referent is Aphex Twin, but part of it also feels very Drag—really stupid in an extremely intelligent and well-executed way.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to forward this to someone you like.
Love,
-JdB