"Kid's Beer?"

[Puritan]

Let's just say the Europeans in general, many countries in Europe consume large amounts of beer and wine.

As for your objections, GhostontheNet, while I admit that giving a child non-alcoholic beer could convince them that drinking is good, this is not necessarily the case. Teaching a child that beer is not a thing to be glorified, but simply something to drink reasonably is a lesson more people in this country need, and perhaps demystifying it would help. With the correct guidance, I could see this drink as being both healthy physically, and a reasonable way to show children that alcohol, like anything else, is something to drink in moderation. Only if parents teach their kids that drinking alcohol to escape problems is the way to go and have them use non-alcoholic beer in this manner will this prove a problem, and I think that if a parent is teaching their children this then the child will likely learn poor drinking habits anyway.

As for your argument that one should not give children toys representing things they cannot deal with, this is utterly fallacious. Ever heard of the game "Operation", playing doctor, soldier, or almost any other career, toy cash registers, toy cars, toy trains, toy guns, toy army men, toy boats, toy airplanes, toy telephones...the list goes on. Teaching children the proper use of things they are not capable of dealing with is part of the point of childhood, and teaching the child proper consumption of ANY substance, be it "Kid's Beer" or soda, fatty food or vegetables, is a good thing in my opinion. For example, a good friend of mine was raised in a family where alcohol use in moderation is common, and his family introduced him to alcohol at a relatively young age while ensuring he understood that it was to be used reasonably. He enjoys alcohol when he goes home and is encouraged to drink it (His mother in fact told him she would rather him drink beer than soda because it is healthier), but he would be the last person I would ever expect to find drunk as his family has taught him that drunkenness is a sin and a sign of irresponsibility. The problem with this substance is the teaching of poor values about alcohol, which I think will happen whether a child is given "Kid's Beer" or not if the parents are not responsible. Alcoholism is a concern when a society stops teaching children to use alcohol responsibly and starts treating alcohol like a way to get drunk. And that simply requires an irresponsible parent, not some non-alcoholic beverage.

[Nate]

Beer is unhealthy anyways...too many carbs.

Actually, carbs have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with weight gain. Gaining/losing weight is quite simple. It all has to do with calories. If you burn off more calories through exercise, you WILL lose weight. Period. You don't have to look at fat, carbs, whatever. As far as I'm concerned, the only nutritional information should be calories, sodium, and cholesterol, because those are the only three things that even matter...well, maybe vitamins too, but if you eat a healthy diet you'll get your daily allowance of vitamins without having to look at numbers.

Seriously, it's that easy. You can eat whatever you want, so long as you burn more calories than you consume. If you eat 2,000 calories today and burn off 2500 in exercise, you will lose weight. It's a scientific fact.

Given that carbs have nothing whatsoever to do with weight gain at all, beer is a great deal healthier than say, soda. Let's look at the numbers.

12 oz. of Budweiser has 41 calories.
http://www.elook.org/nutrition/beverages/4207.html

8 oz. of Coca-Cola has 97 calories.
http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/item/98047.html

Whoa! Coke has more than TWICE as many calories with 4 less ounces! Thus, it is a lot healthier to drink beer than soda (beer also has more nutrients as well).

Less calories + more nutrients = better than soda

Of course, I am only advocating moderation. I do not advocate going out and drinking 12 beers because that's just ridiculous. But what I am saying is that in moderation, if you drank beer at each meal instead of a Coke, it would be more healthy for you.

Anyway, as far as the actual thread topic goes, I got nothing to say, really. Puritan has done a pretty good job of summing things up. XD;;

[GhostontheNet]

Let's just say the Europeans in general, many countries in Europe consume large amounts of beer and wine.

As for your objections, GhostontheNet, while I admit that giving a child non-alcoholic beer could convince them that drinking is good, this is not necessarily the case. Teaching a child that beer is not a thing to be glorified, but simply something to drink reasonably is a lesson more people in this country need, and perhaps demystifying it would help. With the correct guidance, I could see this drink as being both healthy physically, and a reasonable way to show children that alcohol, like anything else, is something to drink in moderation. Only if parents teach their kids that drinking alcohol to escape problems is the way to go and have them use non-alcoholic beer in this manner will this prove a problem, and I think that if a parent is teaching their children this then the child will likely learn poor drinking habits anyway.

As for your argument that one should not give children toys representing things they cannot deal with, this is utterly fallacious. Ever heard of the game "Operation", playing doctor, soldier, or almost any other career, toy cash registers, toy cars, toy trains, toy guns, toy army men, toy boats, toy airplanes, toy telephones...the list goes on. Teaching children the proper use of things they are not capable of dealing with is part of the point of childhood, and teaching the child proper consumption of ANY substance, be it "Kid's Beer" or soda, fatty food or vegetables, is a good thing in my opinion. For example, a good friend of mine was raised in a family where alcohol use in moderation is common, and his family introduced him to alcohol at a relatively young age while ensuring he understood that it was to be used reasonably. He enjoys alcohol when he goes home and is encouraged to drink it (His mother in fact told him she would rather him drink beer than soda because it is healthier), but he would be the last person I would ever expect to find drunk as his family has taught him that drunkenness is a sin and a sign of irresponsibility. The problem with this substance is the teaching of poor values about alcohol, which I think will happen whether a child is given "Kid's Beer" or not if the parents are not responsible. Alcoholism is a concern when a society stops teaching children to use alcohol responsibly and starts treating alcohol like a way to get drunk. And that simply requires an irresponsible parent, not some non-alcoholic beverage.

My point on toys is in fact pretty much what you yourself said - they are tools of enculturation. A child will not be able to drive a tractor, but using a toy tractor will get them to think about using the process of using a tractor, get them to think about whether that is something they really want to do. The threshold in Japan as relates to rampant alcoholism is already quite broken, as Psychiatry Online writes in describing just how widespread alcoholism is in Japan, "Alcohol here plays the role of psychiatry in the West," http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/38/23/12 . Some countries, even any that do not in fact have a problem with clean drinking water but still drink a good deal of beer have built in safety valves against drunkenness (and often genetic makeups not prone to getting drunk at all). Not so in Japan where beer is all over the island in those ever ubiquitous vending machines and drowning one's troubles in the bottle like one here would go to a psychiatrist hardly has the sociological climate to make this product any positive factor torwards the problem. The marketing slogan itself betrays this exact "Drown out your troubles in the bottle" mindset that is the major variable of alcoholism both here and there.

[Shao Feng-Li]

EDIT: Oops wrong page.

[mitsuki lover]

off topic:Did anyone else,speaking of beer,read that Peter Coors the head of the
Coors brewing co.(actually Molson Coors Brewing co. now since they merged with
the Canadian brewery Molson)got picked up at his driveway for DUI?He was heading home from a wedding where he had a couple beers and the police caught him at his gate.

[Shao Feng-Li]

Heheh.

[Slater]

hmm... non-alcoholic beer for us under-aged? that's not really new... at all...

[Shao Feng-Li]

Considering taste, wouldn't be that much different than drinkng bad water lol.

[Slater]

and that I resonate with. Why drink beer if you're not trying to get drunk? From what I hear, it tastes like mineral water that's been used to put out cigars...

[Technomancer]

and that I resonate with. Why drink beer if you're not trying to get drunk? From what I hear, it tastes like mineral water that's been used to put out cigars...

Some people certainly like it, and will wax eloquent about their favourite beers. Personally, I don't drink it, but much prefer wine or mixed drinks.

[Shao Feng-Li]

and that I resonate with. Why drink beer if you're not trying to get drunk? From what I hear, it tastes like mineral water that's been used to put out cigars...

If you get drunk you often don't remember the fun you had before getting drunk and you wake up terribly sick and your liver's been poisened. It taste bad to but a lot of people like it and use it to relax and loosen up. The people I'm around don't get drunk off it.

Flavoured beer, however, tastes very good.

[Tommy]

I don't know if this was brought up or not but I'll say it anyways (since I didn't read the whole thread).

If sure we can agree, even though we probably shouldn't know what this tastes like we have an idea that beer tastes like carbonated urine from a goat.

Do they change the flavour because kids won't eat vegetables because it's "yucky."

I think beer is yucky. Yes, I've tried it. I've had a few sips and spit it out. It's yucky.

Would kids want this stuff?

Do you think this will hit the US?

[Puritan]

and that I resonate with. Why drink beer if you're not trying to get drunk? From what I hear, it tastes like mineral water that's been used to put out cigars...

Actually, almost everyone I know who drinks beer likes the taste, and most people don't think it tastes as bad as you make it out to be. I personally prefer wine or other beverages, but I don't mind a dark beer with a meal either. Also, if you want to drink to get drunk, there are far easier ways to do so than drinking beer, and I know of a number of highly respected people who enjoyed trying many different types of beer for the taste.

[Technomancer]

Would kids want this stuff?

Do you think this will hit the US?

Aside from the different marketing aspect, it already has. Then again root beer was originally marketed as a substitute for actual beer.

[Tommy]

Root Beer is a soft drink that tastes good with no drinking effects whatsoever. The only thing it has in common with beer is:

1) It's carbonated.
2) It has the word "Beer" in it.

I know you mean it was ORIGINALLY supposed to be, but still I'm having trouble understanding what this specific product is. Is it soda? What?

[Nate]

I think beer is yucky. Yes, I've tried it. I've had a few sips and spit it out. It's yucky.

And that's your opinion. Some people love the taste of beer, I know them. I personally can't stand the taste of beer, but I also can't stand the taste of broccoli, and I know people who love that too.

And actually, root beer was alcoholic when it was first invented. It was used as medicine, which is why it isn't popular in other countries other than the US: because it tastes like medicine. And I think root beer tastes nasty as well, another proof of different tastes.

As for this specific product, it's non-alcoholic beer. That's all it is.

[Tommy]

So it's not just for the audience of kid, but it's also for people who like the aste of beer but don't want to get drunk? I'm assumming it's a minority.

Yes, Kaemmerite, you're right, but taste and opinion are two different things. You're taste buds can't be persuaded by propaganda. It can change but nothing will influence it.

So why is everyone reacting so negatively? I mean, the slogan is questionable, but what seperates this from soda?

[Nate]

So it's not just for the audience of kid, but it's also for people who like the aste of beer but don't want to get drunk? I'm assumming it's a minority.

Probably, but non-alcoholic beer was quite popular in the days of Prohibition. It's also popular in counties/countries where sale or advertisement of alcoholic beverages is prohibited. Regardless, if there wasn't a demand for it, it wouldn't exist, so the very fact that it exists means it must sell at least decently well.

So why is everyone reacting so negatively? I mean, the slogan is questionable, but what seperates this from soda?

Well, not trying to be mean here, but if you'd read other people's posts, you'd see why. Some people think that the slogan is questionable, yes. But others feel that it can instill the belief that drinking beer is "cool" in children. This could possibly lead to poor decisions regarding the alcoholic type of beer in the future. Though I disagree with them, they are not wrong to believe this, and it is a plausible scenario.

[Puritan]

So it's not just for the audience of kid, but it's also for people who like the aste of beer but don't want to get drunk? I'm assumming it's a minority.

Once again, please don't assume the point of drinking actual beer is to get drunk. I know MANY people who drink it because they like the taste but have no desire to get drunk. Non-alcoholic beer has some taste downsides (many people find even the best brands watery) and there isn't the variety that there is in regular beer. The existance of Non-Alcoholic beer is due to several factors: A) People who like beer but know the alcohol might interact with medicine or medical issues. B) People who don't want to drink before driving, a valid concern even if you never get drunk. C) People who have an aversion to alcohol or are an environment with an aversion to alcohol and still want to drink beer. Acting like people who drink actual beer almost all want to get drunk would slander good pastors, elders, and deacons I have known, as well as many other great Christians from today and the past.

[Madeline]

Yeah, I read about that. It's somewhat interesting...

I wasn't surprised to find out that it originated in Japan.

[Needle Noggin]

Stop badmouthing kidz beer. At least they aren't tripping on LSD or smoking cigarrettes.

<SNIP BY MITHY: EDITORIALIZE ELSEWHERE>

[Kaligraphic]

I thought we finished this thread.

[Chii]

I'm 16, and it's frustrating to watch girls that are like 13-16 think that they are already grown up and mature....I think it's because of the way society portrays teenagers....and little kids.