Utah Police Called On A Little Boy Selling ‘Ice Cold Beer’ On A Street Corner

During the hot summer months, children on street corners and in neighborhoods typically set up lemonade stands. Not only is this a great way for kids to get their first taste for what running a business is like, but the enterprise is usually appreciated by hot and thirsty neighbors.

What isn’t typical is to see a child on a street corner holding up a sign advertising beer. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what happened in Brigham City, Utah. The police were called several times regarding a little boy holding up a sign that said ‘ice cold beer’. While it’s not surprising that there was concern, things weren’t exactly how they seemed, according to Today.

Seth Parker is an 11-year-old Brigham City native. He recently set up his own version of a lemonade stand and held up a big bold sign advertising beer. But an alcoholic beverage was not being sold by the child. He was hawking plain old root beer.

Even at his young age, Parker was able to come up with a marketing strategy that worked. He knew that a shocking sign like that would catch people’s attention at least enough so they would be prompted to stop by to find out more. If you look closely at Parker’s sign, you can see the word ‘root’ in tiny letters above the word ‘beer.’ So technically, Parker wasn’t misleading anyone.

After a few calls, Brigham City police made a post on their Facebook page that assured everyone that Parker wasn’t actually selling alcohol. They also took the time to praise his marketing strategy.

“This young man, in the area of 600 South 200 East, has a twist on a lemonade stand. Yep, he’s selling beer… ROOT BEER, that is. His marketing strategy has resulted in several calls to the BCPD, but apparently its paid off as business has been good.”

Indeed, Parker’s small business is booming. He’s only been open a little more than a week and he’s already helping around 100 customers a day who stop by his stand for a cold beverage.

Three people in Brigham City, Utah called the police on an 11-year-old boy who was advertising “ICE COLD BEER” outside of a soda stand. Turns out, Seth Parker wasn’t selling alcohol, he was selling IBC root beer! https://t.co/CAdxhi3dSZ

— KXAN News (@KXAN_News) July 20, 2019

Facebook users have been commending Parker for his hard work and business acumen.

“Awesome! Way to go! Genius! We need more young entrepreneurs,”one person wrote.

But Parker didn’t go into this whole root beer selling thing with the intention of making money. He was more interested in making friends. The little boy moved to area in 2017 and is still in the process of finding his buddies. This was his way of getting the chance to meet new people.