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The phrase \u201cNot now, Mama is drinking her special juice\u201d just got a new meaning thanks to fruit cocktail empire Welch\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This past spring, the brand known for its grape juice announced<\/a> that it was ready to get tipsy. Partnering with Coop Beverage Works, the company unveiled a canned alcoholic line with a ABV of 5.9% in four different flavors.\u00a0<\/p>\n Juice is a staple of many childhoods, alongside peeing your pants and trying to eat crayons once or twice. And Welch\u2019s ingrained itself into popular culture in the 1960s<\/a> through ads with the Flintstones and once more in the 1990s with its iconic commercials<\/a>. Now, these grape-guzzling kids have grown up and Welch\u2019s is seemingly trying to do so as well \u2014 all along attempting to appeal to the everlasting pull of nostalgia.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe absolutely love that Welch\u2019s takes so many people on a nostalgic trip down memory lane \u2013 nothing beats hearing that our bold, real fruit flavors \u2018taste like their childhood,\u2019\u201d Chris Kwiat, vice president of transformational growth and communications at Welch\u2019s, said in a statement to Fortune.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Companies aren\u2019t often just touching a chord for the sake of it, as many of us are more likely to turn to our wallet when our heartstrings are pulled. A 2014 study<\/a> published by the Journal of Consumer Research<\/em> found that nostalgic marketing was particularly effective at encouraging \u201cconsumers to part with their money\u201d\u2014the emotion weakens one\u2019s desire for cash in favor of social connectivity. And during times of distress, nostalgia is especially appealing.<\/p>\n \u201cToday with all the turmoil, there\u2019s so much that we\u2019re unsure of,\u201d Krystine Batcho, a professor at Le Moyne College who researches nostalgia, told Fortune<\/em><\/a> <\/em>in 2022 of the ripples of the pandemic and a volatile economy. \u201cThat is the perfect storm for nostalgia.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Years later, many Americans are still dealing with a similar set of problems and desire for escapism. Inflation, a trying job market, and socioeconomic pressure all create a feeling of pessimism<\/a> regarding the future. While some Americans are cautiously optimistic, only 37% are hopeful about the country\u2019s economic future, according to a recent KPMG<\/a> study of 1,100 people.\u00a0<\/p>\n And it\u2019s no shock that Welch\u2019s is speaking to millennials. The infamously unlucky cohort might be extra vulnerable to nostalgia marketing right now due to their current life-stage<\/a>, as their expectations clash with what the average person can currently afford. The especially vulnerable (and thus pessimistic<\/a>) younger generations have turned to making little purchases as a way to salve the burn of financial malaise, or facing an uphill battle to building wealth. It\u2019s an appeal to their inner child in part, at least in language. \u201cOur economic prospects as a generation are so fucked that we may as well just live large to whatever degree we can afford,\u201d one non-profit worker told Fortune<\/em><\/a> in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n Companies are aware of this, as assistant professor in Media Studies at Western University, Selma A. Purac, notes<\/a> that millennials and Gen Zers are currently prime targets because of their copious digital media use. Even Gen Zers born after the \u201890s speak of a nostalgia for the era, Stephaie Harlow wrote in a blog post<\/a> for consumer insights company GWI. While all generations are nostalgic, these two younger ones lead the way right now. While 15% of Gen Zers and 14% of millennials prefer the past to the future, that sentiment decreases as generations age \u2014 according to GWI\u2019s 2023 survey of more than 6,300 internet users.\u00a0<\/p>\n While invoking nostalgia, Welch\u2019s didn\u2019t want to settle for mocktails. \u201cEven the classics need a glow-up,\u201d said Kwiat. \u201cWe realized that while our heritage is rich, some folks see us as that big jug of grape juice just for kids.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Funnily enough, Welch\u2019s was founded 150 years ago amidst the temperance movement<\/a> when some churches needed a substitute for wine. Pasteurizing grape juice stopped it from fermenting, \u201cposing the question to society: \u2018Why drink wine when you can have grape juice?\u2019\u201d Kwiat quipped.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFast forward to today, and here we are doing a bit of a 180,\u201d he added. \u201cConsumers have evolved, and since we put them at the center of everything we do, we evolved with them,\u201d he said. Specifically, he said, the brand got inspiration from people drinking a grape juice cocktail called the Transfusion at golf clubs.\u00a0<\/p>\n It makes sense, then, that Welch\u2019s is looking to enter the adult beverages market alongside these two generations. Of course, it comes with some complications. \u201cWe\u2019re navigating the rise of sober culture among younger folks,\u201d said Kwiat, referencing the trend<\/a> where some younger adults are increasingly spurning alcohol in light of wellness culture and the rising cost of going out. \u201cBut we see it as an opportunity,\u201d he notes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe power of nostalgia<\/h2>\n