Everyone Will Be Drinking Guinness This St. Patrick's Day (Whether They Like It Or Not)

Everyone's mind automatically goes to Guinness when they think of a drink order for St. Patrick's Day (even though there are plenty of craft beer options here in America), but new research shows that Guinness may have become too romanticized in its home country. 

The study from Northumbria University claims that the Irish feel compelled to be drinking Guinness on St. Paddy's Day, even if they abstain from the stuff the other 364 days of the year. The author of the study, marketing lecturer Matthew Kearney, analyzed the shopping habits of 70 Irish people in their 20s and 30s, and found that St. Paddy's Day is the biggest day to go for broke; the people studied even maxed out credit cards and borrowed from friends to meet the demands of the holiday. Said Kearney of the participants: "Many of the people who took part in the research seemed to feel an inescapable pressure to drink as though it is part of Irish consumers' culture and heritage. When this is combined with the expectations of others, created by the concerted efforts of marketers, the result appears to be inevitable... There seems to be a perception that it's their duty."

It's been said that worldwide, revelers will drink 13 million pints of Guinness on St. Patrick's Day — looks like we better read up on our pint.