Sober-ish

A blog about casual corporate drinking and sober curiosity from The Digital Voice™ team

The Ad Industry has a drinking problem. Drinking alcohol is not a problem.

Two statements that co-exist easier than most people probably expect. For many industries, social drinking is a customary activity, both between colleagues and between companies, whether you’re networking or trying to close a sale. Meetings, events, lunches and after hours socialising are all prime time for a glass of wine or a couple of beers.

But this sort of casual but persistent drinking is causing a divide. For many Gen Z employees especially, the drinking culture of older generations is changing: a 2018 Berenberg Research report found that Gen Z already drinks 20% less alcohol than their older peers, in part due to culture changes, and due to a greater understanding of health concerns and risks. For perhaps the first time in history, sobriety by choice is slowly becoming a social norm. And yet the expectation is still there that alcohol will flow at work events, and beelining for the bar to put back three, four or even more drinks is still a common practice.

“In today’s society & living in London it’s so easy to find yourself drinking every night,” says Akinyi Odhiambo, Senior Events Executive. “Quite often, I feel the need to drink if I find myself at the pub and I want to get out of that habit as I’m more than capable of having a great time without it.”

Saying you don’t drink - whether you’re Gen Z or you’re older - is definitely judged less than it would have been in the past. The Digital Voice™ 's Founder and CEO, Julia Linehan remembers a time in the 90s when saying during an interview that you’d choose juice over wine at a business lunch was met with serious criticism. “It was a different time,” Julia says. “You wouldn’t get the job.”

After years in the industry, Julia is now a self-proclaimed ‘Sober Lush’. “I love to party, I just don't want the effects of alcohol, so I don't drink it.” As she says in our mindful drinking episode of the Off Record, On Point podcast with Libra beer’s Mitch Cobb, she used up her lifetime quota of hangovers and she’s done. 

But being sober, or even just turning down a drink is still often met with a host of presumptuous questions. If you’re not drinking, it must be for a reason. Are you pregnant or unwell? Is it a religious thing, or have you had a bad experience? It seems tough for many people to accept that some people just don’t want to drink. 

I know it well. Back in 2016, I realised I was going to have to cut alcohol out of my life. I was 26 years old. Most of my teen and adult life had centred around partying. A year earlier, I’d been working in a sales team that idolised The Wolf of Wall Street business model with every Thursday night a company-funded booze fest and every Friday in the office a nightmare mix of ringing phones, greasy food and hangovers. Saying to that team that you wanted to be home before midnight was blasphemous; saying you weren’t going to drink was treason. It was a way of life. And then I got sick, and the alcohol had to go.

Overnight – in my mind at least – I became horrendously boring. Every time I socialised, I had to remind people I was sober. The question always came up – “are you sure you don’t just want one glass with dinner?” – and I had to give the whole spiel about my health to justify not having alcohol. 

It took me a long time to come to terms with feeling left out. No one around me at the time was saying sobriety was okay, so it changed my lifestyle, and it changed my social circle. 

I consider myself lucky – seven years later, and I’ve recovered enough to have that glass with dinner from time to time, and I only socialise now with people who either don’t drink or don’t care that I’m not. Sobriety was no longer enforced on me, but I wanted to make mindful drinking a permanent choice. I’ll have a drink on very special occasions, so I say I’m sober-ish.

The thing is, whether going for full sobriety or mindful drinking, reducing your alcohol intake comes with a whole host of benefits.

Mindful drinking app Sunnyside, who help build a proactive drinking solution to fit your individual lifestyle and offer support no matter your alcohol intake goals, recently did a study of more than 25,000 people after 30 days of mindful drinking. They found that more than 60% of participants experienced better sleep, better overall and mental health, 54% increased productivity and more than 70% saved a significant amount of money. And that’s just in 30 days.

They also found that drinking less improved cognitive function and emotional stability, and it boosted self-esteem. Those are huge benefits in the workplace. How much could get done at a sober work event, where everyone was working at top capacity and feeling confident about it?

Sobriety isn’t for everyone, and it doesn’t have to be. Indulging in a healthy amount of alcohol at times that make sense is what mindful drinking is all about. “It's all about savouring each drink and staying super aware of how it makes me feel,” says Sherry Anverally, Social Media and Content Marketing Executive, who’s been mindful drinking since her early 20s but only learned there was a term for it recently. “I've learned to really enjoy each sip of my drink and have these awesome connections with people around. It’s made me feel healthier because I'm not going overboard with alcohol. My mind's clearer, and emotionally, I just feel more solid.”

Rowan Lee-Foyster, Senior Graphic Designer adds: “I know my limit and I never push past it, and even try to stay under it. It has increased minimally over the years and I’ve realised my tolerance is higher that I thought, but I am happy sitting at most ever so slightly tipsy than finding out what another glass would bring!”

Lastly – but definitely not least – treating sobriety like a stigma creates a huge issue with inclusion. For those who can’t or don’t drink, it’s easy to feel excluded. For anyone who wants to consider mindful drinking – the practice of approaching alcohol with a different mindset, reducing intake and choosing when to drink with care – the pressure from the industry to have a tipple or two at every event can be huge. 

Camealia Xavier-Chihota, Marketing & Multimedia Lead, recently attended a webinar lead by Janet Hadley from Choose Sunrise entitled What are we going to do about Dave? – it was hosted by Inclusive Companies and was about creating a sober inclusive workplace. “It was really insightful and I have already benefited from the guidance on what not to say when someone says they aren't drinking,” Camealia points out. She notes that at DMEXCO, it was refreshing to see events offering a good selection of mocktails and alcohol-free beer, and was able to point out the options to a non-drinker instead of asking any intrusive questions.

“I was able to switch between drinking alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks without feeling like I was missing out, or not joining in the work drinks with clients.  And unlike at Cannes, there wasn't a hangover in sight!”

It seems like understanding the benefits of not drinking is becoming more and more widespread, especially around the workplace. So why do we still do it? Is it simply a cultural thing? Does anyone genuinely have more fun drunk, or have we forgotten how to enjoy ourselves sober? 

Perhaps it’s time to look at how much we’re drinking and lead the charge in making a change – for better business, better health and much more happiness.

You can learn more about the Sunnyside app at www.sunnyside.co



Ren Bowman is Senior Marketing and Multimedia Producer at The Digital Voice™, a first-class graduate in Creative Writing and an award-winning podcast producer. They’ve written for a range of industries including tech, entertainment, education, business finance, and lifestyle. Outside of work, they are an activist for social justice, especially Women’s and LGBTQ+ rights.