By Kevin Zimmerman
Unwilling to pay through the nose for a beer at a concert? Desperate to sneak some wine into a theater showing Minions? Need a shot of tequila during your cousin’s sister-in-law’s kid’s violin recital? You can bring your own adult beverage – and, even better, you can hide it from the disapproving. That is the concept behind You Can Hide It, which sells a wide array of flasks disguised as ice packs, bottles of insect repellent and hair spray, even a stylish scarf. “If you need a nip, take a sip,” says company CEO/co-founder April Allison. “And sometimes you really need it!”
Allison, who started the company a year and a half ago with partner/inventor/sister Gail Benson, says the idea sprung from the frustrations involved with paying high prices for alcohol at major events. “I do not drink a lot,” she says, “but when I go out, I want to enjoy myself and maximize my party time.” After paying $15 for a small glass of what she calls “bad wine” at a concert, Allison identified a niche just waiting to be filled. “We did some research, and venues typically mark up their alcohol by 900 or even 1,000 percent,” she says. “The question became, ‘If I want to bring in my own supply, how do I sneak it in?”
With security at concerts and sports arenas at an all-time high, the solution was to develop a line of products that look real, but are not. Thus was born You Can Hide It. Its top seller is the ice pack flask ($14.95), which appears to be just that – down to its “Arctic Fox” label – but is actually hollow and can hold 14 ounces of the libation of one’s choice. “There are a variety of places you can take it and be believable,” she says. “Plus it holds so much. Why sneak in a few ounces when you can go the whole shebang?”
The 12-ounce hairspray and “Dr. Buzz’s Insect Repellent” flasks ($12.95) provide similar subterfuge for public outings with plentiful prohibitions in place. “If you are going to a club, you are not going to be lugging around a big purse,” she notes. “But the hairspray flask fits inside a clutch or a man’s pocket. It is not something that security is going to look at twice.”
The patent-pending Sippin’ Scarf ($36.95) holds six durable, screw-top plastic mini-flasks inside six secret pockets; includes a mini-funnel; and is available in several solid colors. The flasks are under the liquid limit on airplanes, and can go through TSA x-ray machines without being confiscated, although eyebrows may be raised. Newly introduced is the Candy Box Flask, consisting of five one-ounce mini-flasks; Allison notes that even the strictest “no outside food allowed” venue will usually allow something that looks like a roll of candy or mints. “Our flasks are fun and functional. They are perfect as gag gifts, can be used to save people hundreds of dollars over the life of the product or as something that can cheer people up.”