Poking around the hashtag’s page on the app, you can find a slow-motion video of a dude in a parking lot pouring a giant BuzzBallz (or BuzzBallz Biggie) into his mouth while non-diegetic trap music plays in the background. As of this writing, the #BuzzBallz hashtag has 14 million views on the app, and includes numerous videos of young people (I’d estimate two-thirds of whom are women), devising gags to perform with the drinks, shouting out their favorites, and going absolutely the fuck off.
Not surprisingly, these little orbs of intoxication-which are priced at $3.49 a pop, contain 15 percent alcohol, and come in sticky-sweet flavors like “Lime ‘Rita’” and “Pineapple Colada”- have become something of a meme on TikTok. The Z at the end adds a pop of playfulness, which feels in line with the sort of marketing language we have come accustomed to associating with the millennial generation, as well as Gen Z-the youngest of whom, per the Pew Research Center, are now of legal drinking age.
Lifestyle associations? Assuming that “liking to party” is a lifestyle, then check. Even if you’ve never heard of BuzzBallz, all it takes is one guess to figure out what they are: liquid-filled balls with flat bottoms and soda-can tops that, when popped and sipped from, will get you buzzed.