99p BuzzBallz Shot Slammed as Cynical Bid to Hook Young Drinkers

Alcohol charities are calling out the company behind BuzzBallz over a new 99p shot they say is cheap, colourful, and marketed in ways that blur the line between the off-licence and the tuck shop.

Alcohol charities have condemned a new 99p shot product from the BuzzBallz company, warning it is designed to appeal to children.
Critics say the low price point and heavy marketing strategy are deliberately targeting young and underage audiences.
Charities accuse the brand of hiding the product's appeal behind what they call a thin nostalgia label.
BuzzBallz products are pre-mixed cocktail drinks sold in brightly coloured spherical containers.
The controversy lands amid broader regulatory scrutiny of cheap, novelty-format alcohol in the UK market.

It looks like something you might find in the pick-and-mix aisle. It costs less than a pound. And according to a coalition of alcohol charities, that is precisely the problem.

The company behind BuzzBallz — the American pre-mixed cocktail brand best known for its brightly coloured, palm-sized spherical containers — has released a new 99p shot product in the UK, and the backlash from health groups arrived almost immediately. Charities warned this week that the drink’s price point and marketing are “designed to appeal to children,” while “hiding behind a thin nostalgia label” to give the product a veneer of adult credibility.

BuzzBallz already occupied a particular corner of the drinks market — the kind of product that turns up at festival merch queues and in the chiller cabinets of city-centre convenience stores, aimed squarely at a younger drinking demographic. The new shot format, at 99p, brings the entry price down to roughly what a teenager might spend on a can of energy drink or a chocolate bar.

Alcohol charities have argued for years that price and packaging together function as a recruitment mechanism, drawing in drinkers before adult habits are fully formed. The 99p shot, they say, is a textbook case: low barrier, high visibility, and dressed up in a format that signals fun rather than intoxication.

The Guardian reported the charity warnings on 24 May 2026. No response from BuzzBallz had been published at the time of filing. UK alcohol advertising regulations are overseen by the Advertising Standards Authority, which has previously acted against campaigns judged to have strong appeal to under-18s.