Sensing blood in the water, several alcohol companies have engaged in a cut-throat competition to secure student tastebuds over the Flo and O-Week period. The increased competition comes after a number of new RTD brands entered the student market, letting the old guard of Cruisers pass gently into the morning after. While a fuckton of Cruisers were still bought (let’s be real), it was the new kids on the block – your Deletes, Majors, and Kirin Hyketsus – who really made waves in studentville this time.
Though the competition was as fierce as a Knox vs Selwyn game of ping pong, there could only be one drink to rule them all. To absolutely no one’s surprise, that drink was Kirin Hyoketsu, the Japanese RTD that’s rampaged into our hearts and livers.
Stats from Leith Liquor reveal that Kirin Hyoketsu was the most popular drink over the two-week Flo and O period, followed by Tui’s and Summit Ultra cans. Mase, the duty manager at The Bottle-O Cumberland, told Critic Te Ārohi, “Probably every 3rd person would come in for it [...] some would just walk in and not even look around before heading for it.”
These changes in drinking habits don’t appear to be isolated. Tumua, the store manager at Leith Liquor, told Critic Te Ārohi that “six years ago it was 20 bucks, this year 31 bucks,” when asked how average spending had changed in the student area. Tumua’s comments offer a glimpse into the growing alcohol market in North Dunedin, one which has seen its fair share of new drinks over the years.
Yet, in 2024 an unprecedented level of marketing in studentville has seen several health initiatives take a stance for students, citing the dangers that large-scale marketing serves to play in the life of the student. Students for Sensible Drug Policy chairman Max Phillips said, “If it was just us students driving Otago’s drinking culture, it would still be bad, but at least it’d be ours and we’d be responsible for the good and the bad.”
Max called the recent advertising “extremely predatory.” Not one to mince his words, Max went on to say, “Flo and O-Week has played out like a turf war between these alcohol brands, all trying to gaslight students to associate their brand of ‘sugar-soaked date-rape in a can’ with the good times of Flo and O week.” Goddamn.
The marketing cited by SSDP has taken place in the form of tasting stands, free clothing, and brand associations with popular Dunedin venues. Kirin Hyoketsu were cited by SSDP as a crucial brand in the “turf war,” with one student, Liam, saying, “It’s everywhere, everyone knows about it.” Another student, Rider, said, “They had tasting stands everywhere and were giving away hats and t-shirts on campus.” Yet Mase had a different theory, arguing that “Before all the advertising people were buying it. Just word of mouth, friends telling friends.”
In coalition with SSDP, Sarah Sneyd from Alcohol Healthwatch argued that the effect associated with such advertising was significant. “Sponsoring free alcohol puts pressure on people to drink and is associated with increased binge drinking […] this population seems to continue to tantalise the industry, who find more and new ways to embed themselves into the student drinking culture.”
So there ya have it, Kirin Hyoketsu is the unequivocal champion of O-Week. They didn’t get on the decks at DeathStar or smuggle a hook-up into their hall, but they did sell a fuck ton of alcohol.