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MillerCoors Agrees to Stop Selling Alcoholic Energy Drinks
December 18, 2008

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News Report

A settlement between MillerCoors and a group of state attorneys general will spell the end of the brewer's foray into marketing alcoholic energy drinks. 

The Wall Street Journal reported Dec. 18 that MillerCoors announced it will stop producing and selling caffeinated alcoholic beverages, including those sold under its popular Sparks brand. At the same time, company officials maintained that the AGs allegations that the drinks were marketed to young drinkers were "inaccurate." 

"Attorneys general from around the country are gravely concerned about premixed alcoholic energy drinks because these products are dangerous and look and taste like popular nonalcoholic energy drinks," said Maine Attorney General Steve Rowe. "They're popular with young people who wrongly believe that the caffeine will counteract the intoxicating effects of the alcohol." 

Critics condemn youth-orinted Sparks marketing materials implying that alcoholic energy drinks allow users to stay awake longer and drink more. "We're thrilled that MillerCoors finally got the message that they were dealing with a public-health hazard," said Pete Schulberg, communications director for the Oregon Partnership, a community-based antidrug coalition. "High caffeine with high alcohol content and the fact that these products are marketing to young people makes for a dangerous combination." 

Sparks has emerged as the leading brand in the alcoholic energy drink niche market; MillerCoors said it will continue to sell a reformulated version of Sparks that does not include caffeine, taurine, guarana and ginseng.  

The company also agreed to end some marketing strategies that the AGs said appeared to be aimed at underage audiences, including content on the Sparks website, the use of "plus and minus" symbols signifying energy, and an affiliation with an "air guitar" performer. David Rosenbloom, director of Join Together, said the settlement's marketing reforms are just as important as the product's reformulation.  

"Removing caffeine and other stimulants from Sparks is an important step for public health because it removes a significant risk associated with the product," said Rosenbloom. "We hope that this settlement will really lead to the end of the company's efforts to sell alcopops to underage audiences with youth-oriented marketing strategies." 

Steve Gardner, director of litigation for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) -- which sued MillerCoors earlier this year over Sparks -- said that today's settlement nearly finishes off the product category. "Now that Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors have each agreed separately to discontinue caffeinated alcoholic drinks, this entire niche of products is all but shut down," he said. 

Gardner called on the remaining, smaller companies producing caffeinated alcohol beverages to quickly follow suit. "It was a bad idea that never should have gotten as far as it did -- adding caffeine to sweetened, high-alcohol-content malt beverages and marketing them to young people via word-of-mouth and infantile web sites," said Gardner.

Previously, Anheuser-Busch reached a settlement with CSPI and state attorneys general in which it agreed to stop producing and marketing alcoholic energy drinks. 

COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:

Posted by This is great news on 18 Dec 08 02:53 PM EST
This is the most worthless argument that has ever been had in Join Together, in courts, or in human history. alcohol and energy drinks are sold in the same stores, on shelves not 10 feet from each other. does anyone really think that now that they arent sold together, they wont be combined? the problem of the drinks being popular with yourng people is still exactly the same as it was. the problems associated with the mixture of high amounts of caffine and alcohol havent changed, but now a few lawyers have collected a lot of money and are patting themselves on the back for solving a problem that still exists to exactly the same extent that it always has. and any young people that still want their alcoholic energy drinks can still buy a "Rockstar21" or any of the dozens of similar drinks that are still available.

Posted by Shattah206 on 18 Dec 08 03:10 PM EST
I agree -- it's mostly window dressing. But not completely. It will allow a little more effectiveness with education. Caffeine and alcohol is a dangerous combination, but if they are combined into one commercially available product, it makes educators sound like fringe lunatics when they try to convince kids of that truth. At least if the products have been discontinued, it lends some credence.

Posted by Pointless on 18 Dec 08 05:30 PM EST
The money paid to these lawyers would have been far better spent on educational efforts. Since when does telling young people they can't have something have any effect other than making them want it more? As was already stated, anybody wanting to combine alcohol and caffeine only has to take the extra steps of pouring and stirring. Anyone want a rum and coke?

Posted by BPC on 18 Dec 08 05:42 PM EST
I don't agree that this is a useless arguement. This discussion in the courts and therefore in the press has brought the whole issue of energy drinks (with or without alcohol) to the front burner. Corporate America has a responsibility to its customers, and marketing unsafe products is irreponisble. But thanks for tipping us all off to the dangers of non-alcoholic energy drinks in the process!

Posted by Been There on 18 Dec 08 06:40 PM EST
C'mon- you have got to be kidding me. If you cannot see the importance of such a decision- look for another line of work! An alcohol industry giant, "big alcohol" itself conceded that the drink mixture is misguided. More important, they lost the argument, even if just this time, that they don't target youth. This is huge and only the beginning. The only way to keep the booze peddlers in line is to have legal precedent. It's an early gift under the tree.

Posted by John Smith on 20 Dec 08 04:57 PM EST
It is my understanding that malt liquor, caffeine, taurine, ginseng, and guarana are all legal in the United States. As an adult of legal age who enjoys these beverages responsibly I am angry that my freedom of choice is being impinged. The blame here does not lie with the makers of these drinks, it lies with the parents who are who are not monitoring their children and the stores that aren't checking IDs.

Posted by Toby Leddy on 21 Dec 08 11:26 PM EST
The way Americans view drinking compared to Europe is so far behind the curve it's pretty embarrassing. We are attacking the wrong side of the problem. As a responsible adult who likes to drink, DJ, and edit video late night; SPARKS was MY "glass of wine" at night. Its all about moderation, not banning a product. Look at the war on DRUGS, which has turned out to be a total disaster. Lets try to attack the demand side for under-agers. And for responsible adults like myself. I guess its back to Red Bull and Vodkas. Maybe we should tell the Irish to ban coffee and Jameson.

Posted by CARLOS ARREOLA RISSA, MD on 22 Dec 08 05:33 PM EST
THIS IS A ONE STEP SOLUTION BUT THE ALCOHOL BEVERAGES AND ENERGY DRINKS ARE THER IN THE SAME AREA OR CLOSE TO EACH OTHER, AND STILL WORSE THE TEMPTATION OF THE YOUTH POPULATION TO CONSUME. THIS IS A SPECIAL ISSUE TO SOCIOLOGISTS AND UNIVERSITIES HOW TO PERSUADE YOUNG PEOPLE TO NOT MIXT THOSE DRINKS

Posted by Tommyjh21 on 23 Dec 08 10:03 PM EST
I think it should be up to the ideviual to choose what to drink and the retailers to make shure the person buying is of age if I want to drink alcohol and caffine I should have that right!

Posted by oh geez on 26 Dec 08 01:01 AM EST
i guess everyone will just have to return to mixing red bull with vodka. oh wait, that actually increases the alcoholic content and still has the caffeine, taurine, guarana etc. in it. at least a big industry giant had to remove something from shelves and the little man could feel like he accomplished something without actually solving a problem. kudos.

Posted by Nancy on 26 Jan 09 08:34 PM EST
The best thing about this is the admission by the alcohol industry that the product and its advertising targeted teenagers. That may lead to more efforts to combat the industry's strategies aimed at getting kids to start drinking while they are still most susceptible to addiction (before their brains finish developing at around 21 -29) and thus "loyal" consumers.

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