Usually social stigma and context. Fireball has less proof that regular whiskey and it's flavored so generally it's preferred by younger/less experienced drinkers, because of that it's just associated as a college shot that people should "grow out of". To your 2nd point I think stigma answers as well, a long island iced tea has a ton of liquor in it but is still a lot of times seen as a drink only garbage people drink. At the end of the day, just drink what you like.