Skinny Girl vodka was a brand of vodka that was launched in 2007 by Bethenny Frankel, one of the stars of the reality TV show The Real Housewives of New York City. The brand quickly became popular due to its low calorie count and connection to Frankel and her healthy lifestyle image. However, in 2011 the brand was sold to Beam Suntory and since then it seems to have faded from popularity and public awareness. So what exactly happened to Skinny Girl vodka and why did what seemed like a successful brand disappear?
The Launch of Skinny Girl Vodka
Bethenny Frankel launched Skinny Girl vodka in 2007. She developed the idea due to her own struggles with finding alcoholic drinks that fit into her diet and healthy lifestyle. At the time, low calorie or reduced sugar spirits were not very common.
Frankel worked with a distiller to create a unique vodka recipe that had fewer calories and carbohydrates. The original Skinny Girl vodka had 100 calories and 2 grams of sugar per 1.5 ounce serving compared to around 97 calories and 0 grams of sugar for a typical 1.5 ounce serving of vodka.
The brand positioned itself as a vodka that women could drink without guilt as part of a healthy, balanced diet and lifestyle. It was marketed towards health conscious women and played on Frankel’s image as a skinny New York housewife.
The packaging and branding helped Skinny Girl stand out on liquor store shelves which were traditionally dominated by male-focused brands. The bottle featured a sleek shape and feminine baby blue lettering.
Growth and Popularity
The connection to Frankel and The Real Housewives provided great exposure for Skinny Girl vodka when it launched. As the cocktail became more popular, Frankel secured promotional deals with retailers like Whole Foods.
By 2010, Skinny Girl vodka was the top selling low-calorie/low-sugar spirit in the United States. Sales expanded from $10 million in 2009 to $120 million in 2011.
Part of the success was linked to the low calorie claims. At a time when low carb diets and calorie counting were popular, Skinny Girl provided an option for people looking to imbibe without undoing their healthy lifestyles. The vodka became a staple at upscale lounges, clubs and restaurants in cities like New York and Los Angeles.
Celebrity endorsements also helped boost the brand. Frankel’s reality TV co-stars were often seen drinking Skinny Girl cocktails on the show. Other celebrity fans included Howard Stern.
The Sale to Beam Suntory
As sales of Skinny Girl vodka climbed, Bethenny Frankel considered selling the brand to a larger spirits company. She sold the company to Beam Suntory in 2011 for an estimated $100 million.
Beam Suntory is one of the largest producers of distilled spirits in the world and owns major brands like Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Courvoisier, Sauza and more. For them, acquiring Skinny Girl provided an entry into the lower calorie/carb spirits market.
For Frankel, the deal meant a huge profit from the business she built herself from scratch. She stayed on with Beam Suntory for two years after the acquisition to help grow and promote the brand.
Decline in Popularity
In the years following the acquisition, Skinny Girl seemed to lose momentum and fade from public awareness. Sales dropped to around $45 million by 2014. There are several factors that contributed to this decline:
– Loss of connection to Bethenny Frankel – A lot of Skinny Girl’s initial success was tied to the visibility and personal brand of Frankel. Once acquired by Beam Suntory, that direct connection was lost.
– Rise of other low calorie spirits – Other vodka and spirits brands began offering low and zero calorie options to compete with Skinny Girl. This diluted the brand’s share of the segment.
– Less focus on brand marketing – Beam Suntory did not seem to put the same marketing push behind Skinny Girl as when it was independently owned. It became one of many products in their portfolio.
– Health trends changing – By the mid 2010s, low carb diets were not as en vogue. The popularity of counting calories and avoiding sugar also started to fade. This impacted some of Skinny Girl’s relevance.
– Questions about true calorie count – There were some media stories that questioned whether Skinny Girl vodka actually contained the claimed number of calories and sugar content. This could have damaged the brand’s reputation.
Discontinuations and New Product Introductions
Starting around 2016, Beam Suntory appeared to quietly discontinue parts of the Skinny Girl portfolio. The Cucumber Vodka and White Cranberry Cosmo pre-made cocktail products were both discontinued.
For several years afterwards, the core Skinny Girl Vodka along with the Tangerine Vodka were the only products being actively produced and marketed in the line.
More recently in 2022, Beam Suntory has tried to revive Skinny Girl with some new product launches:
– Skinny Girl Peach Vodka
– Skinny Girl Raspberry Vodka
– Skinny Girl Margarita pre-made cocktail
It remains to be seen if these new product introductions can reinvigorate consumer interest in the brand. But the portfolio overall is still significantly smaller than its peak years in the early 2010s.
Where You Can Still Find Skinny Girl Products
While not as ubiquitous as before, Skinny Girl vodka can still be found at some liquor retailers. Here are some of the stores that still carry Skinny Girl:
| Retailer | Skinny Girl Products Available |
|---|---|
| Total Wine | Vodka, Tangerine Vodka, Peach Vodka, Raspberry Vodka |
| BevMo! | Vodka, Tangerine Vodka, Peach Vodka, Raspberry Vodka, Margarita |
| Walmart | Vodka, Tangerine Vodka, Peach Vodka, Raspberry Vodka, Margarita |
| Target | Vodka, Tangerine Vodka |
The core Skinny Girl vodka along with the newer flavored vodka varieties seem to have the widest availability. The pre-made margarita product has more limited distribution in stores.
Skinny Girl has significantly scaled back on promotional partnerships and events compared to its heydey. The brand does still maintain an active Instagram account with cocktail recipes and updates on new products.
Is Skinny Girl vodka discontinued?
Skinny Girl vodka has not been officially discontinued, though the brand is just a fraction of its former size. Core vodka varieties are still in production along with some new flavored extensions launched in recent years.
However, many of the ancillary products like the pre-made cocktails and cucumber vodka have been discontinued as Beam Suntory appears to have scaled back investment and distribution.
The brand is also no longer as actively marketed and promoted compared to its peak years under founder Bethenny Frankel. It has faded from the mainstream consciousness.
But the core vodka line is still available at major national retailers in the United States. So while scaled back, Skinny Girl as a product is not gone completely yet.
Could Skinny Girl Make a Comeback?
There is possibility that Skinny Girl could regain some of its former popularity. Nostalgia trends and retro revivals are very common in the spirits industry.
Beam Suntory’s recent innovations like the flavored vodkas and margarita cocktail seem to be an attempt at reviving interest in the brand.
There have also been some rumors and reports over the years that Bethenny Frankel herself could buy back the Skinny Girl brand from Beam Suntory. This would allow her to regain full creative control and reconnect it to her personal brand.
For a true comeback, Skinny Girl would likely need some new unique selling point beyond just being a lower calorie spirit. When it launched, it was one of the only mainstream diet vodkas. Now every major brand offers low or zero calorie varieties.
It would need a fresh approach and marketing campaign focused on new health trends or alcohol consumers’ needs. Given the brand recognition, if done right, Skinny Girl could potentially become a hit again.
The Rise of New Competitors
In addition to the diet/zero calorie offerings now available from top vodka brands, Skinny Girl faces competition from many new independent players in the space.
Some examples of newer low calorie vodka brands that have come onto the market include:
– Poppi – Launched in 2020, Poppi advertises itself as a prebiotic vodka soda with only 90 calories per can. It is focused on gut health.
– Bent Shot – Bent Shot vodka launched in 2018 and has 60 calories per shot along with probiotics and electrolytes.
– Nikki Beach – A recent vodka entry with only 72 calories and 0 carbs per serving. Focused on the spirit’s smoothness.
– Whipped Light Vodka – Brand that infuses nitrogen to create a lower calorie (75 per shot) and lower ABV vodka.
This new competition chipping away at the low calorie vodka market makes it even harder for Skinny Girl to maintain its positioning and share. The brand saturation in this segment is much higher today compared to when Skinny Girl first broke through in 2007.
The State of the Low Calorie Alcohol Market
The market for low calorie and lighter alcohol seems to still be growing. According to recent data:
– 24% of alcohol drinkers try to keep calories and carbohydrates in mind when choosing alcoholic beverages.
– Low calorie beer holds about 5% of total beer market share.
– Flavored vodka holds 20% of total vodka market share, with many focusing on low calorie claims.
– Pre-made low calorie cocktails and hard seltzers have seen massive growth recently.
So the macro trends would seem to indicate there is still room for Skinny Girl to succeed if positioned properly. Consumers are very much interested in options perceived as lighter and healthier.
Brands like Poppi, Bent Shot, and others show there is demand for new takes on low calorie spirits and alcohol. However, Skinny Girl needs a more unique value proposition than just being a diet vodka to differentiate itself in this now crowded market. Reinforcing its legacy brand awareness could help.
Is Bethenny Frankel Still Associated with Skinny Girl?
Bethenny Frankel is no longer directly associated with Skinny Girl vodka. She sold the brand outright to Beam Suntory in 2011, though stayed on for two years afterwards in an advisory role.
In 2016, Frankel declared that she was done with Skinny Girl cocktails in order to focus full time on her other business ventures and TV career.
However, the Skinny Girl name will forever be linked to Frankel as she was the founder and original face of the brand. This persistent association is likely one reason that Beam Suntory has kept the name despite declining sales.
Frankel herself no longer promotes or is involved with Skinny Girl vodka. She has focused her efforts on expanding her Skinnygirl lifestyle brand into new categories like shapewear, jeans and nutritional supplements.
Some fans have hoped that Frankel may buy back the Skinny Girl alcohol brand from Beam Suntory to regain creative control and reconnect it to her lifestyle brand. But currently, Skinny Girl vodka remains fully separated from Bethenny Frankel herself.
Conclusion
Skinny Girl vodka went from a breakout success story in the late 2000s/early 2010s to a declining brand today. Its close ties to founder Bethenny Frankel and being one of the only mainstream low calorie vodka options fueled its initial rise.
But after being acquired by Beam Suntory, it lost that direct celebrity connection. At the same time, competing vodka brands flooded the market with low and zero calorie options. Combined with fading interest in calorie counting, these factors led Skinny Girl to lose its relevance.
While still available, distribution is much smaller and marketing is minimal compared to its heyday. But Beam Suntory has been trying to inject some life back into the brand with new flavored line extensions. And the underlying consumer interest in lighter alcohol could provide an opening for a Skinny Girl comeback if repositioned and remarketed well.
It would likely require regaining some direct involvement from Bethenny Frankel to reconnect Skinny Girl vodka to its roots. But whether Beam Suntory would be open to selling the brand back remains to be seen. For now, Skinny Girl maintains just a fraction of its former cultural presence, though nostalgia and craft alcohol trends could potentially help the brand rise again.