for the young'uns

So I am supposed to be working on a project about marketing wines to Millennials, all those young people who are 21 to 30. (Actually, the group is even younger than that, but I'm not really legally supposed to be marketing toward people who are under 21.) I've been thinking about this, and it's tricky. I mean, look at that age range. Someone who is 21 most likely has very different interests from someone who is 30. And very different incomes. And very different ideas of how that income should be spent.

But the marketing can be done. Case in point: Pink Party, an annual event put on by one of our Napa Valley neighbors to raise money for breast cancer research. Everyone wears pink (yes, boys too), spends all night drinking pink bubbly (brutal the next day, but fun when you're in the moment) and dances like mad.

Never have I seen so many young people at a wine event. Never. Hell, I didn't even know young people existed in Napa, but there they were in full force. And this was not a cheap ticket, either -- admission was $50 a pop! But those tickets sold out, and everyone had their dancing shoes on. And to be honest, the crowd was so young that I felt like I was an old fart, and I'm only 30. It was an exciting way to get people interested in wine.

Unfortunately, once they're interested, they may not be the best at actually holding their alcohol. (Note to self for marketing project: Always make sure Millennials drink enough water and eat enough food.)

My Pink Party revelry ended with me witnessing some poor girl barfing and collapsing next to the toilet in the winery's restroom, while her three friends tried their best to haul her out of the stall and hold a trash bag up to her face. And then when the music stopped and it was time to go home, security herded all of us partygoers down a walkway, where we found yet another poor girl peeing right next to the sidewalk -- right there in the pretty winery landscaping, just as absolutely everyone who was at the party was walking past. And then as we were trying to catch a cab to go home, some drunk guy accosted Laura and insisted he would drive us wherever we wanted to go, declaring: "I'll take you to Jack in the Box! I'll take you anywhere!" Awesome pick-up line, man. Truly awesome.

Perhaps I'll include the Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger in my marketing plan.