Fighting Coronavirus with High Spirits

March 6, 2020

Tito’s Handmade Vodka gets this week’s award for most blandly factual response to a harebrained suggestion.

Tito’s Handmade Vodka gets this week’s award for most blandly factual response to a harebrained suggestion.

As fears mount over the coronavirus, supplies of hand sanitizer are being drawn down. Apparently some user tweeted what he thought was a great substitute: rubbing his hands with Tito’s.

While I’m sure that Tito’s, like any CPG company, is happy for customer loyalty and for new uses for its product, it responded matter-of-factly: “Per the CDC [Centers for Disease Control], hand sanitizer needs to contain at least 60% alcohol. Tito's Handmade Vodka is 40% alcohol, and therefore does not meet the current recommendation of the CDC.”

I’m just curious about the conspicuous-consumption aspects of this. A 750-ml bottle of the stuff retails for about $21.50, while you can pick up a 1-liter bottle of Purell for just over $9. So...is using Tito’s on your hands to fend off the coronavirus the modern-day equivalent of a champagne bath?

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