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Holiday proof is in the pudding, organically speaking
(by Nancy Rubenstein - November 19, 2008)
Getting into the spirit of the approaching holiday season, we're constantly encouraged to buy the "spirit" of our choice to help us celebrate.
The advertisement for organic vodka is intriguing. It seems like an oxymoronic approach to life. First, there's strong evidence that drinking an alcoholic beverage is a substance known to destroy our liver, deplete our brain cells, loosen our inhibitions, cause us to make foolish statements, impair our ability to drive a vehicle and cause us to slur words we’ll surely rue after being restored to a sober state. But the advertisements encourage us to be selective in reaching this debilitating state. We’re advised to consume organic vodka.
Maybe we’d be better served (pun intended) if we imbibed fewer noxious ingredients on our way through life. Maybe we should heed the wise advice to “drink responsibly,” which seems like another slightly oxymoronic phrase, unless it's presented by the milk industry.
Aside from the oxymoronic advertising world, we see that vodka has been elevated to the drink of choice by many groups. Some people choose it because they don’t want to return to their colleagues at work reeking of whiskey after a “business” lunch. Some have embraced vodka after a late-teen experience tossing back Jell-O shots at frat parties. Vodka has found its way from a cocktail choice to a hangover remedy in the form of a Bloody Mary, or a semi-civilized brunch-time Mimosas. The currently popular Cosmopolitan makes us feel very much in the moment, as Cosmo drinkers like to say.
Vodka has even found its way onto the bestseller books’ list in the title “Hey Vodka, It’s Me, Chelsea,” a collection of humorous essays by Chelsea Handler.
Absolut, an upscale vodka brand, developed and distributed a set of attractive posters that caused the young crowd to plaster (another intended pun) them on their bedroom walls long before they reached legal drinking age. Absolut was also one of the first to market flavored vodka, which has opened new creative opportunities for eager bartenders and anxious drinkers.
There is a vast amount of vodka consumed world-wide, including the wildly popular blue-colored varieties, like Blue Ice, which colors the drink Blue Insanity (concocted with blue raspberry vodka, blue Curacao, triple sec and "Black Ice" vodka) .
I’m noting this upsurge in vodka consumption with an occasional Salty Dog, using natural, organic sea salt to help prove the success of marketers everywhere. I'm defying the assault on my liver and brain cells, but I'm embracing the organic approach to life, hoping my personal organs get the message.
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