We've had kinder-champagne here in there Netherlands (and many other European countries) for years and years now. Kids like it, it's a bit of fun pretending to be adults for them. Most of the time they have one glass and get bored of it.

Then again in Europe we seem to be a lot more responsible with our drink, and it has a lot to do with proper education from within the family, how our culture treats it, and also not having to wait until the age of 21 (!!!) to drink.

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Don't worry too much, it's a very liberal idea to think you know better than individuals when it comes to the choices they should make for themselves and their families.

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Sparkling cider is essentially the kid's Champagne. Heck, even teetotalling adults will drink it in lieu of the "real" stuff. It's a special beverage for a special occassion...what's the big deal?

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In my family we've always had sparkling cider for the kids so they could have a special occasion drink too.

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While I don't like the idea of marketing pseudo-alcohol to kids, my cousin and I bought sparkling cider for at-home New Years Eve celebrations when we were pre-teens. We're both fine.

There are plenty of forces that push people towards unsafe/unhealthy alcolhol use. Fizzy apple juice isn't the one to worry about.

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Oh come on! Sparkling cider has been around for a long, long time and has been used as a "celebratory drink" with my friends and my family as we were growing up.

I suppose we should also be banning little girls makeup with the crazy blue eyeshadow and the ultra pink rouge for fear that they will grow up to be hookers and we should ban any mention of sumo wrestling from our society for fear that it will encourage young males to get really really fat and push people around.

Come on now. We can't even let our kids play grown up? I had candy cigarettes when I was growing up and I didn't turn out to be a smoker, I played violent video games and I didn't end up killing or maiming anyone. And how are these kids going to get this PartyFizz anyhow? By sneaking around behind their parents backs and buying it with their allowance? No, the parents are going to buy the stuff and if the parents aren't responsible enough to teach their kids that this is for pretend, then that is something that you can't control. Parents need to be responsible for the way they raise their kids.

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Kids have been drinking things like "Shirley Temples" and sparkling cider at special events like weddings forever. The problem here isn't the sparkling cider, the problem is that it's DISNEY. Disney wants what used to be "extra special treats" a daily beverage. What the heck does Disney need to get involved with the sparkling cider business for unless they simply see it as a very profitable, untapped market? (ding ding!) How many kids were demanding their parents buy them fake booze before? How many will now because it's "(insert Disney merchandised-to-death character name here)Approved!" It's got nothing to do with parent's choices for their own kids, it's got to do with Disney, again, pre-empting parent's choices for their own kids.

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I was going to say something about getting a grip, but Sam, Michael and just about everyone else pretty much said it for me!

I agree that it is a lack of education about alcohol (and sex and drugs and money and responsibility...) that is often more harmful to children than any product in stores or on TV.

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i have no problem with a product like this in general as my sisters and i grew up enjoying a sparkling juice on special occasions...in fact, when we were in our early teens, we were even given very tiny glasses of champagne to taste in celebrations too...but my only concern here is that it's being marketed by Disney. doesn't Disney pride itself on producing family-friendly, kid-safe products and movies...then again, i guess all their movies to have undertones of racism, sexism, elitism and fantasy, so what the hell - drink up kids! at least you'll have something to clean your mouth out with after you eat that heinous looking Disney PizzOmelette that was just introduced.

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hahaha aka Sparkling Cider? I just think it's dumb that they're marketing it as Kid's Champagne.

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p.s. there's something a little creepy about that photo of the kids...it just feels a bit too precocious doesn't it?

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Hey... serve it up with some candy cigarettes and you've got a par-tay!

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AS a former kid , We used numerous drinks as pretend alcohol like grape juice and apple juice...It hasnt influenced my alcohol consumption at all....I dont drink one bit. Kids dont pretend to drink alcohol because it makes you feel funny, but because it is adult. Maybe if we didnt stigmitize or place a taboo on alcohol, kids wouldnt have such an interest or feel like they are doing something "naughty" to get back at their parents. Now THAT is what drives kids to drink, not little disney princesses.

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I thought it was telling that the first comments on this blog were in favor of sparkling cider being used as "kiddie Champagne" (not to mention originating from somewere other than North America). I used to work in the beverage industry in the US and ran up against this sort of thinking repeatedly. That somehow alcohol is dangerous and should be hidden from children. What a crazy idea!

I think our European friends could explain to us that our screwed up attitudes toward alcohol have led us into many of the problems associated with the irresponsibility of the industry and the product itself. Now I'm not absolving the industry of fault; look at the marketing tactics certain "cheap wine" producers use in any metropolitan area. I'm not saying that alcohol in massive quantities isn't harmful.

What I am saying is that it is a parent's burden to educate and model responsibility to their children. That includes alcohol along with a whole host of other aspect of life (politics, media consumption, etc). That's enough of a burden than to have to worry about someone preaching the evils of liberal politics and alcohol, or the merits of close-minded family values and uncontrolled firearms to *my* children.

Disney is a good company. They aren't lily white and I don't much care for some of their marketing tactics, but we all do it for the money. Something that would be worth considering is that Disney is an international entertainment and hospitality business. That means that they have to be prepared to meet (and exceed, if I know the hospitality industry) expectations and cultural requirements from around the globe. I think that the hospitality and service industries have a lot to teach everyone in the US before we are ready to truly become world citizens.

And we need, very badly, to become world citizens.

So if you are at Disney, just be sure to tell your concierge that you don't want any sparkling cider or wine. Just drink the water and let the rest of the world enjoy itself.

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If we are going to teach children about food, why don't we start with the basics. To get a good idea of what I mean visit www.hip4kids.org..Donate time , resources or funding for this highly unique, extremely effective program that has educated over 20,000 children in the NYC Metro area in the past four years

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As many people have pointed out we've had Kiddie champagne for years, it's called sparkling cider/ grape juice and it is packaged to look just like champagne but just like champagne if you drink too much of it you'll get sick! That is the message we need to send our kids through our actions not just our words. Both of my kids have had "fake champagne" and real champagne and they weren't too impressed with either one. If your child sees you drinking a glass or two of alcohol once in a while he or she will probably learn how to use alcohol responsibly. I don't think that parents can be preempted as someone suggested unless they allow that to happen after all, now that you're the grown-up you get to say NO!

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