What Is the BORG Binge Drinking Trend on TikTok? Here's What Parents Should Know
With 46 students recently hospitalized, it's important to be aware of this trend.
There's a drinking trend on TikTok that college students and social media users are concocting. Rather than drinking out of a red solo cup, individuals are using a water gallon to make a BORG, which is an acronym for “blackout rage gallon.”
"It's essentially a hack to drink a bunch, have a crazy night [and] not feel terrible the next day," one TikToker explained.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst announced on March 4, 2023, that "a significant number of alcohol intoxication cases" had resulted in the Amherst Fire Department (AFD) handling requests for 28 ambulance transports. CBS News reported that a whopping 46 students were hospitalized, but thankfully they were "eventually medically cleared and discharged" with injuries that were deemed to not be life-threatening.
The university noted in its statement that "AFD and UMass officials said many students were observed carrying plastic gallon containers, believed to be 'borgs,'" adding that "in recent weeks, this binge drinking trend has been increasingly depicted on TikTok and seen on college campuses across the country."
The hashtag #BORG has garnered over 85 million views on TikTok. Continue reading to learn more about the BORG trend...
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What is a BORG?
The acronym BORG stands for “blackout rage gallon.”
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How are TikTokers makings BORGs?
Per Health, a "BORG recipe usually follows a specific format: A gallon of water with about half dumped out, vodka (some people use as much as a fifth, which equals about 16 shots), a packet of electrolytes, and some flavoring." The trend also consists of individuals naming the gallon with "BORG" in the name.
One individual who made the drink in a TikTok video admitted, "You can't taste the alcohol. I now see why BORG stands for blackout rage gallon because this is a recipe for blacking out."
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Are BORGs dangerous?
While some individuals might prefer knowing what's in their drink—having made it themselves rather than drinking an already mixed drink at a party—Dr. Lawrence Weinstein, who is the chief medical officer of American Addiction Centers, pointed out to Health that “in reality, that’s water in addition to [as many as] 16 shots, which is a great deal of alcohol to consume.”
Dr. Weinstein told Health, "This all but encourages binge drinking, which is already a significant problem among college-aged students."
One TikTok user commented on a BORG video, "Borg put me in the hospital. Never again." And another user on the same vid shared, "Borg is banned at 4 frat houses at my college because of alcohol poisoning."
However, as we said, some individuals like knowing exactly what's in their drink (as well as how much alcohol is in their drink), and there's no need to get a refill when you're carrying around a BORG. TikToker @erin.monroe_ shares, "As a preventionist, I like the BORG as a harm reduction strategy," which she explains further in this video:
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You can choose to put less alcohol in your gallon than others (or even skip the alcohol altogether!), without anyone knowing. One TikTok user commented on this video: "I like the borg cuz people don’t even have to know you’re staying sober if you don’t want them to."
There are a variety of perceived positives and negatives when it comes to this particular trend, depending on how you participate.
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Jill Grimes, MD AKA @tiktok.collegedoc stresses that one of the negatives of this trend is that it may be normalizing blackout rage drinking, when that's something that simply shouldn't be normalized.
While one user commented, "The more alcohol the better" to her video, Grimes responded, "[Definitely] not from my perspective! There are over 1500 alcohol-related deaths in college students every year. Please drink responsibly!"
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention share that an average of six people a day die from alcohol poisoning in the United States.
If you or someone you know need treatment and/or support from alcohol abuse, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has a free, confidential 24/7 hotline you can call: 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
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