AWOL was gimmicked as an alcohol "vaporizer", implying that it would heat the liquid until it entered a gaseous state, but is in fact a nebulizer, a machine that agitates the liquid into an aerosol. AWOL's official website states that "AWOL and AWOL 1 are powered by "Electrical Air Compressors" while AWOL 2 and AWOL 3 are powered by "electrical oxygen generators"", which refer to a couple of mechanisms used by the nebulizer drug delivery device for inhalation. Although the AWOL machine is marketed as having no downsides, such as the lack of calories or hangovers, Amanda Shaffer of "Slate" describes these claims as "dubious at best". Although inhaled alcohol does reduce the caloric content, the savings are minimal.