LikeFolio, which tracks tweets to predict consumer trends, thinks it might be. Let’s walk through this:
Consumers are cutting back on sugar, thanks to all the publicity about the health hazards of too much sugar. Carbs create sugar. Beer has carbs. So consumers are cutting back on beer to reduce their carb/sugar intake.
LikeFolio looked at consumer tweets that mentioned both beer and either “fat” or “carbs.” That number began to skyrocket from roughly 110 million mentions to nearly 180 million just about the time hard seltzer mentions really accelerated. Drink hard seltzer, avoid carbs. Drink beer, get (unhealthy) carbs. Or so the theory goes.
Michelob Ultra is growing. But White Claw, a hard seltzer from Mark Anthony Brands has seen purchase intent skyrocket.
Who’s drinking hard seltzer? Young, mostly female, health-conscious and “basic.” The fact the drink has been proclaimed as “feminine” by many on Twitter leads Andy Swan, president of LikeFolio, to suggest potential sales may suffer as men may be reluctant to purchase the product.