Beer for the kiddies

[pmac]

Beer for kids [boingboing.net]. Whoever came up with this idea is a true knucklehead.

Even kids cannot stand life unless they have a drink," reads the product's advertising slogan.

[ronin]

I always think something must get lost in translation >;->

Japanese confectionery and drinks quite often have slogans which are written in either badly formed or slightly peculiar sounding English. I used to keep a scrapbook a couple of years ago when I lived in Japan.

I vaguely remember some square biscuits by Morinaga or one of the other three confectionery producers which had a slogan on the box which went something like: "Go home and enjoy these with Mother!"

Bizarre.

When I was a kid, my brother and I occasionally used to drink Ginger Beer at family parties and think we were really cool with "our" beer.

[hannamyluv]

Beer is viewed a bit differently in Japan. It is almost thought of as a health drink, kinda. People are encouraged to have beer for breakfast, even. Which makes sense, since it is essentially a cereal in a can.

Also, the Japanese have this weird view of the world when it comes to things that other counties would consider taboo. They have a very distict line drawn between fantasy/party time and the rest of life. Things are acceptable in a party atmosphere that are not acceptable elsewhere in society. Which is why a comicbook called "R@peman" (yes, it is about what the title says) was extreamly popular for a while there, while at the same time, Japan has one of the lowest r@pe rates in the world. So, this isn't all that strange.

Kids drinking beer would be acceptable in a party atmosphere, but it wouldn't be acceptable for a kid to come home from school and crack open a beer, non-alcohalic or not. (not positive, just going off what I know about the culture)

[Essex_boy]

Seems a daft idea if taken at face value.

As kids my parents would let me and my brothers have any alcoholic drink we wanted - provided we asked for permission first.

Boy were we for it if didnt ask, later as teenagers none of us got in to any alcohol related trouble.

Hell we'd been drinking it for years so what was the appeal?

[Sarah Atkinson]

essex_boy at what age did they start letting you have it? My parents did something similar and I have never been drunk nor did I have any problems with it as a teenager. So I'm wandering if this type of upbringing might be the best.

[Essex_boy]

I seem to recall it being around for ever, but I guess we had lemonade shandy from about 8 and wine with Sunday dinners from around the same time.

Should I have kids id do the same, I think it really deglamorised alcohol which in reality is a dangerous drug.

[MamaDawg]

Essex_boy and Sarah - same thing in my family! If the adults were having beer or wine I was allowed to have some in my little shot-sized beer mug, I guess from the time I was around 7 or so. I never got into trouble with alcohol as a teenager (or later!) either - it just didn't intrigue me that much.

But since alcoholism has a genetic component I could see that being a total disaster in some families!

[Leosghost]

When I was kid in very rural Ireland ..parents used to leave us in the care of the grocers /corner/ village shop with a 1/2pint glass of Guinness with a dollop of icecream in it while they went to the bakers , fishmongers , veg shop etc ..

Never did us any harm ( just the one glass )..started around 6 years old ..kept us quiet ..and we grew up to be able to hold our drink ..and not have problem with it ..not withstanding the genetic element ...with which some members of my family have had a problem ..

[bill]

Beer is viewed a bit differently in Japan. It is almost thought of as a health drink, kinda. People are encouraged to have beer for breakfast, even.

LOL.
Can't say that I've ever seen that in Japan. You must have had some unique experiences. ;)

Kids drinking beer would be acceptable in a party atmosphere

Gotta say that one probably wouldn't pass muster in most Japanese homes or drinking establishments. The use of alcohol is treated a bit differently in Japan, that's for sure. I've got vending machines within a stone's throw from my house that have beer and sake in them. There isn't the heavy handed regulation you see in the US with IDs, but comparatively you also don't see a lot of underage drinking problems. Alcohol in Japan doesn't quite have the forbidden fruit image it does in the West. I think that lessens the appeal somewhat.

[lgn1]

This would not fly in Canada; they even banned candy cigarettes in this country, because it sent the wrong message to children.

[hannamyluv]

You must have had some unique experiences

Nope, but I will admit my info is a few years dated. My sister lived there for awhile. She brought back an ad that had a pic of a hurried Japanese businessman (tie flying behind while running). The ad was for a beer as a suitable breakfast. My sister said that while it was very inappropriate to be drunk in public, it was not unsuitable to have beer in public and since beer is a rather high nutrition alchohal drink (grain and all) that it was not uncommon for someone to have a beer for breakfast while going to work. Maybe not your everyday person, but some people. I will admit that this was 10 years ago and perhaps it was along the lines as the kids beer, a passing fad.

[bill]

Unfortunately it sounds like your information channels are a bit crossed. Being drunk in public is actually very well tolerated in Japan. In fact it's almost completely ignored. The salaryman is expected to be allowed to blow off steam once in a while and stumbling drunk men in suits on the train are a nightly experience for me.

it was not uncommon for someone to have a beer for breakfast while going to work.

You may be confusing some of the energy/vitamin supplement drinks with beer. The bottles look similar, but the contents are quite different. I know there are some that use various ingredients that are also found in beer (hops, malt), but you won't see people drinking beer for breakfast. My guess is that your sister didn't exactly understand what she was seeing.