Wine brand’s ‘Election night Survival Kit’ sells out as US braces itself for messy election

Canned wine brand Babe Wine is restocking its sold out Election Night Survival Kit, after stressed voters stocked up on essentials ahead of next Tuesday’s presidential election.

Or as the AB-InBev-owned brand puts it, “November 3rd is going to be wild AF, but Babe is here to help you get through it. This kit has everything you need if sh*t gets real.”

The survival kit, which retails for $29.99, comprises a bottle of “Polls Closing. Bottles Opening” red wine, a four-pack of Babe Rosé, a stress ball, tissues and a pillow to scream into if your  preferred candidate doesn’t win (or if there’s a protracted legal battle over ballots to look forward to).

Although the wine kits are currently out of stock, the brand confirmed more would go on sale on Thursday through its DTC channel on its website.

The popular canned wine brand was founded as Swish Drinks by Instagram influencer Josh Ostrovsky, Alexander Ferzen and brothers David and Tanner Cohen in 2016 before being snapped up by AB InBev in 2019. The Belgian brewer first acquired a minority share of the company through its global growth and innovation group, ZX Venture in 2018, before the wine brand joined its Beyond Beer project – its largest wine investment to date. It is one of the fasted-growing canned wine brands in the US, in a segment that Nielsen estimated to be worth $70m in 2019 and growing 10% year-on-year. It recently launched its canned sparkling rosé in the UK.

The tongue-in-cheek brand is no stranger to headline grabbing – in August it teamed up with dating app Bumble to offer a promotion to cover the moving costs of six women who were stuck living with an ex during the pandemic The publicity stunt included a mock moving company called B&B Movers in Babe’s pale pink and navy brand livery.

It also launched a ‘Cancel 2020’ campaign when the Covid-19 pandemic first struck the US.