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Why We Romanticize Alcohol (And Ignore What It Actually Does to Us)
- CWOB Team
- Apr 1
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 13
Alcohol has one of the most effective marketing narratives in the world. Whoever turned this commodity (water, to identification, was a genius... (That's actually a very fascinating story)
It’s built into:
celebrations
vacations
date nights
It’s universally known as:
reward
connection
relief
And over time... that fugazi, that woozy, that fairy dust... Solidifies.
And you begin to consciously and subconsciously see it for what it represents.
The Highlight Reel Problem
Your brain-through its miraculous nature- doesn’t store experiences equally.
It has an evolutionarily lean towards:
emotional highs (They tell your brain: "Pay attention this is important to survival"
novelty (Early humans lived in changing environments. New things could mean- a bite to eat, the place where the wolves pack together (stay away), or a better shelter than the bark dome that is starting to leak)
reward (The engine behind everything. When something helped survival, the brain released dopamine. Do this again!)
(*Remember- if all of human history were a mile, the last 200 years would be the last inch).
So... when it comes to alcohol (following this evolutionarily lean) what sticks is:
that first drink (I find the rankings of first drink's online hilarious- Airport Beer, First Drink of Vacation, etc.)
the vibe
the laughter
the feeling that everything got easier
Alcohol is personal... I've got my highlight reel. Think about what yours is.
What doesn’t stick in the brain:
the third or fourth drink or eight drink
the mumbling conversations
the fogginess of it all
the terrible hangover, the panic attack, the diarrhea.
Your brain edits that story.
It keeps the highlight reel and discards the rest. It's our social media app of our life.
Why Alcohol Feels Bigger Than It Is
Alcohol isn’t just a liquid. It’s attached to meaning.
“Hey-let’s grab a drink”-signals connection
“Wine night girlllllll”- signals relaxation and gossiping
“Cheers!!” (clink)- signals celebration
So, when you actually question alcohol, it doesn’t feel like removing a drink. (Try removing water... easy-peasy)
It feels like you are uprooting:
a social scalpel
a damn hard-earned reward
an identity and routine anchor
That’s why it feels bigger than it actually is.
Marketing + Media.
The steroid... In the late 1800's ads were mostly "This is pure whisky", "This beer is high quality", etc. Slowly you start to see something subtle creep in... well-dressed men, social settings, respectability. The seed was planted.
In 1908, a cartoonist named Tom Browne was having lunch with the brass at Johnnie Walker. They were looking for fresh ideas.... On the back of a menu, he sketched a man in a hat and coat, walking forward with purpose. It became known as “The Striding Man”. No product focus, no "tastes" great... simply just a man, moving forward.
It is our first real example of big alcohol not selling their product, but selling an identity. This man was going somewhere with purpose.
So- a combo of corn grains, water, yeast, and a wood barrel- became much deeper.
It became an identity.
The three biggest players in their respective sectors- Anheuser Busch (beer), Diageo (spirits), E&J Gallo (wine)- spend an estimated combined $10-12B in marketing a year...
This isn't just ads in the traditional sense- it's sponsorships of sports, music events, product placements in tv and movies, influencer costs, cultural embedding...
Think you're above this? "Advertising" doesn't affect me".
Sure- you maybe aren't controlled, but you've been quietly shaped at the margins. The probability has always been shifted. The mere exposure effect and the subtle low intensity of cultural placements is extraordinarily powerful in shaping how we see ourselves.
In short...
They know what they are doing.
The Reality Most People Skip Over
The same mechanism that creates the “good” feeling creates the downside.
As Homer Simpson said: "Alcohol-the cause and solution to all of life's problems".
Booze:
increases dopamine
lowers inhibition
impairs decision-making
disrupts sleep
increases next-day anxiety
It feels like relief in the moment. It passes the buck down the line...
And you are left with:
more stress
less control
Why the Negative Effects Don’t Register the Same Way
The downside doesn’t hit at the same time as the reward.
anxiety shows up the next day
poor sleep shows up the next day
low energy shows up the next day
So your big, beautiful brain struggles to connect: cause (drinking) with effect (next-day impact)
So the experience gets misinterpreted.
The reward feels immediate. The cost feels unrelated.
The Loop That Keeps It Going
The pattern is simple:
Stress builds during the day (name your stress- we all have it)
Alcohol creates relief
The brain records: “hey... this worked”
The pattern repeats
What’s missing is the full cycle.
Those same drinks:
disrupted your sleep
increased next-day anxiety
reduced your baseline energy
Which makes the next day feel harder.
Which-not surprisingly- increases the desire for relief again.
You Don’t Miss Alcohol—You Miss the Shift
Most people believe they enjoy drinking.
What they actually enjoy is the transition:
from tension to relaxation
from thinking to just shutting it up
from structured to unstructured
from constraint to freedom
Alcohol became the fastest way to create that shift.
What Changes When You See the Full Picture
When you stop romanticizing alcohol-and truly get out of the matrix and look at it objectively- the experience becomes complete.
Not just:
the first drink
But:
the full night
the next morning
the following day
The question changes from: “Do I enjoy this?”
to: “Is the full experience worth it?”
For many people, the answer begins to be muddled and then shift.
This Isn’t About Elimination
It’s about accuracy.
Seeing alcohol:
without the highlight reel
without the associations
without the automatic meaning
Just for what it actually does.
If You Want to Break the Illusion
You don’t need a permanent decision.
You need contrast.
A short break removes the distortion.
It lets you experience:
mornings without the after-effects
energy without the drop-off
That contrast is what changes perception.
A Better Starting Question
Instead of asking: “Should I quit drinking?”
Ask: “Do I actually truly know what this feels like without it?”
If the answer is no, that’s where to start.
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