A wellness world gone mad?

Optimise your morning. Optimise your sleep. Optimise your workout. Optimise your diet. Optimise your social life.

Even pleasure has started to feel like something that has to be done properly.
That was our takeaway from this great opinion piece in The i Paper in light of the Steven Bartlett wine discourse, and the wider conversation it has opened up around wellness culture, alcohol and optimisation.

The reaction to Bartlett’s comments was loud because it tapped into something bigger than wine. It spoke to the growing pressure to measure every choice against productivity, performance, sleep quality, recovery data and how successfully we have managed to turn ourselves into better versions of ourselves by Monday morning.

There is, of course, nothing wrong with being more mindful about drinking. The rise of low and no, moderation and more considered consumption has been one of the most important shifts in the category. However, the idea of balance can sometimes feel like it is just another thing to 'get right'.

For drinks brands, this feels like an important cultural tension to understand. People are thinking more carefully about what they consume, but that does not mean they want every moment of pleasure to come with a performance review.

The opportunity is not to ignore wellness, but to make room for a more human version of it. One that allows for enjoyment, spontaneity, connection and the occasional decision that does not fit neatly into a routine.

Sometimes the point of a drink is not optimisation or fitting into routine, it’s about the social connection, the memories, the conversation, the location, and the fact that not every good thing needs to be justified.