Friday, 6:45 p.m., Paris. The slate displaying the “happy hours” sits to my right. The prices are more than attractive. Until 8 p.m., the cocktail is 5 euros, the pint 4 and the glass of wine 3.5. Bad luck, this evening I decided not to drink alcohol. Optimistic, I open the menu, looking for a nice and economical drink. Result: sodas or syrups with water for… 5 euros. FIVE EUROS ! My girlfriend doesn’t hesitate (and I understand her). She opts for beer. I want to cry seum tears into my glass of ultra-chemical mint water. At least it will dilute my drink and given its cost, it’s always a bargain.
At the start of Dry January – the month without alcohol – a question arises: why is happy hour almost always associated with alcoholic drinks?
A poorly respected legal obligation
Okay, first surprising discovery: establishments offering happy hours have been required, since July 2009, to also offer these reduced prices on non-intoxicating drinks. Wanting to check on site, without much surprise, we see that this rule is far from always being applied. Out of five Parisian establishments tested, three simply do not offer happy hour on “soft drinks” (the sweet name for non-alcoholic drinks). “We are not going to lie to each other, this obligation is not really respected,” recognizes Johan Derderian, president of the cafés, bars and brasseries branch of the National Union of Hoteliers Restaurateurs Cafetiers Caterers (Synhorcat). And she is not at all known to customers. »
In one of the three bars, the waiter announces frankly: “we don’t have happy hour on soft drinks”. Before adding, stammering at our crestfallen expression: “it’s not me who manages the card”. Inside, Lison, 24, and Sarah, 33, sip a Coke zero and a lemonade. “We didn’t even ask ourselves the question of whether there was a happy hour on it,” admits Sarah. “For me, it only concerns alcohol,” continues his friend. When we tell them that it is obligatory, they are surprised. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that on non-alcoholic drinks… or maybe I’m just not paying attention,” admits the 30-year-old.
Mocktails sold at the price of cocktails
Some establishments do offer these reductions on soft drinks, but often reserve them for a very specific type of drink: non-alcoholic cocktails, or “mocktails”. And we quickly understand why. “Among non-alcoholic products, the interest for us is really to go towards these mocktails. Not only do we sell them more expensively than a Coke, but they are also more profitable,” admits Johan Derderian, honestly. In the bars tested during happy hour, the price of these mocktails – the production cost of which is supposed to be lower than an alcoholic cocktail – never drops below the bar 6 euros and can go up to 9, at the same level as an alcoholic counterpart. Happy hours clearly not happy for everyone, so…
If alcoholic drinks are often the only ones to be sold at unbeatable prices, it is first and foremost a question of format. “In many bars, beer and wine are shipped in containers, while sodas are in containers [individuel] glass,” explains Elisabeth Tissier-Desbordes, professor emeritus at ESCP, teacher of marketing and consumer behavior. According to her, marketing and packaging costs would thus affect the final price of sodas and energy drinks.
Another explanation for the disdain of happy hour for alcohol-free products could be found in the alcohol lobby. “Alcohol brands carry out numerous commercial operations and events with bars because they are essential sales locations for them,” explains the marketing professor. Those of sodas and other “soft” drinks are, according to her, moving more towards mass distribution.
“We don’t go to the bar to have back-to-back glasses of Coke”
“Happy hour is a bit of a bargain,” admits the Synhorcat representative. It’s a simple way to fill your establishment, to make it more welcoming and to have an atmosphere before the service”… and to make the people who consume stay. Because, we’re not going to hide it, anyone who has ever drunk alcohol knows that a drink is rarely drunk alone. And it is not the same with a lemon Perrier. Johan Derderian sums it up like this: “you don’t go to the bar to have a series of glasses of Coke”.
Lison, still seated, nods while stirring her… Coke. “When I’m not drinking alcohol, I rarely have more than one glass of soda. I’m already having trouble finishing it, I’m not going to take two. ” Why, then ? “It sickens me. Well… that said, there is no reason why it should be any different with alcohol. I don’t really know actually. » Her friend Sarah offers an explanation: “non-alcoholic drinks are often hypersweet and disgusting. » 7:25 p.m. The young woman leaves, leaving her glass of lemonade half full.