Power hour
Players | Any number |
---|---|
Setup time | Varies |
Playing time | 60 minutes |
Random chance | None |
Power Hour or 21 for 21 is a drinking event where player(s) drink a specified number of alcohol shots within one hour. Variants include one shot of beer every minute for an hour or 10 shots within one hour. In the USA, a power hour event is often associated with a person's 21st birthday when they reach the legal drinking age.[1][2]
Consequences
Players may have difficulty completing the specified number of drinks as the rate of consumption can raise their blood alcohol content to high levels.[3] The rate of alcohol consumption makes the players intoxicated within a short period of time.[4]
Variations
The power hour is originally 60 minutes in length, but a centurion is 100 minutes long. The game is usually played using a minute long song playlist like those found in powerhourzone.com. Therefore, one shot should be taken per song. Another way to play is using a timer; an example of an online timer is powerhourgame.us. The game could be composed of liquor by taking a shot every 10 minutes.
Trademark controversy
In 2010, Power Hour LLC, who markets a DVD game named "Power Hour", registered a trademark of the same name and soon after began sending cease-and-desist orders to Ali Spagnola, a musician who had released an album also titled Power Hour.[5][6] Spagnola announced her intentions to fight the claims, and an intellectual-property professor from the University of Pittsburgh stated that "if 'Power Hour' is a generic description of 'a drinking game that involves drinking a shot of alcohol each minute for an hour,' then Power Hour LLC can't have any trademark rights at all."[5] In January 2013, courts ruled in Spagnola's favor.[7]
Alternate Meanings
The term "Power Hour" has also been used in television to refer to back-to-back showings of half-hour TV shows, particularly action-oriented children's programming.
References
- ↑ Rutledge, Patricia C.; Aesoon Park; Kenneth J. Sher (2008-05-20). 21st Birthday Drinhking: Extremely Extreme (PDF). Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 76. pp. 511–516. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.76.3.511. PMC 2668868. PMID 18540744. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
- ↑ Ruth Brown (2008-03-05). "'Power hour' not only way to turn 21. That magic birthday now comes with new places, new parties and new troubles if not careful". The Collegian.
- ↑ Bob Reha (May 26, 2004). "21st Birthday is a Deadly One". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
- ↑ Kate Zernike (March 12, 2005). "A 21st-Birthday Drinking Game Can Be a Deadly Rite of Passage". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-20.
- 1 2 Welsh, Margaret (May 20, 2010). "Can a drinking game be trademarked? Local musician Ali Spagnola hopes not". Pittsburgh City Paper.
- ↑ Masnick, Mike (May 11, 2010). "Can We Make A Power Hour Drinking Game Around Ridiculous Trademark Disputes?". techdirt.
- ↑ "Opposition No. 91195461" (PDF). UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2013.