Who up enjoying they "allure of social competition"?

Sundays are normally reserved for The Fingers Weekender, but that’s on hiatus for January. Before or after today’s special edition, make sure to check out:

• My scoop at VinePair about Reyes Beverage Group buying a chunk of RNDC;

• The internal memo from RNDC’s CEO announcing the deal, which I published here at Fingers;

• My guest appearance on The VinePair Podcast discussing my reporting on the Reyes-RNDC deal;

• My column at VinePair unpacking the beer-industry angles on the Reyes-RNDC deal;

• My scoop at Fingers confirming Brown-Forman isn’t sponsoring whatever “Whiskey Fridays” turns out to be at Bari Weiss’ Vichy CBS;

And that’s about it. As ever, if someone forwarded this to you, buy a subscription to get next Sunday’s edition straight in your inbox.

We’re exactly halfway through the 2025 Fingers Buzzwords of The Week of The Year quarterly vote-o-rama, and some fan favorites have clearly begun to emerge among the electorate. But the polls are still open, and it’s anybody’s race. If you haven’t yet cast your ballot for the most mind-numbing palaver publicly promulgated by the beverage-alcohol industry in each of the previous three quarters, now is the time to make your voice heard. Hell, even if you have cast your ballot, cast another one! Vote early and vote often—a phrase I just made up. Or vote late! Like, at night! Who up enjoying they “allure of social competition”?

On Wednesday, I’ll announce the Fingers Buzzwords of The Week of The Quarter for Q2, Q3, and Q4. (As a reminder, Q1’s winner was “neo-hedonism”—what a banger!) From there, Friends of Fingers will cast one more round of votes to choose an overall winner/loser for 2025. Democracy in action: breathtaking stuff, really.

Refresh your memory on all the buzzwords here, and/or hit the polls below.

💬 BUZZWORDS OF THE WEEK OF Q2

This quarter was a little light on buzzword entries, but it has some heavyweight contenders. Cast your ballot!

💬 BUZZWORDS OF THE WEEK OF Q3

More than any other quarter, this one features an obvious frontrunner after the first week of voting. To honor the integrity of democratic self-determination, I shan’t reveal the leader of the field. We’ll see if it’s still in the top spot after this week of polling.

💬 BUZZWORDS OF THE WEEK OF Q4

The most recent quarter of buzzwords also features the most competitive field at the midway mark. Vote! Vote! Vote!