> Brands are doing what they can to lift the appeal of alcohol-free alternatives.
In Indonesia and India, public alcohol advertising is basically banned, so for decades you've seen huge outdoor ads for Bintang Zero (which is terrible) and Kingfisher Water (same logo as the beer) for the sole purpose of circumventing these laws.
I remember the same happening in Poland ca. 15-20 years ago (I’m not sure if that’s still the case).
Another way of sneaking in alcohol into ads relied on linguistic jokes, e.g.:
You’ll get an ad telling people that Bols (a vodka brand) sponsored a boat with the same name.
In Polish łódka Bols (the Bols boat, /wootkah/) sounds almost the same as wódka Bols (Bols vodka /vootkah/). Given the stronger association between the word Bols and vodka it requires a conscious effort not to hear the implied word vs what is actually spoken.
Sinister, but gotta admire the chutzpah.
I few weeks back I saw some ads for cocktails with alcohol free gin (in Italy IIRC)
In Indonesia and India, public alcohol advertising is basically banned, so for decades you've seen huge outdoor ads for Bintang Zero (which is terrible) and Kingfisher Water (same logo as the beer) for the sole purpose of circumventing these laws.