Ads for alcoholic energy drinks draw fire from AGs

Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe is spearheading a multistate effort to stop alcohol manufacturers from making misleading health-related statements when advertising alcoholic drinks that contain caffeine and other stimulants.

Joined by attorneys general from 29 other states, Rowe has signed a letter urging the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to rein in misleading ads and to investigate the formulation of some alcoholic energy drinks.

“Nonalcoholic energy drinks are very popular with today’s youth,” Rowe said in a prepared statement Monday. “Beverage companies are unconscionably appealing to young drinkers with claims about the stimulating properties of alcoholic energy drinks.”

For instance, he said, Anheuser-Busch’s caffeinated malt beverage Bud Extra has an advertising slogan, “You can sleep when you’re 30,” and implies the product offers renewed strength through the addition of an herbal product called guarana. Other slogans for the product include “Who’s up for staying out all night?” “Say hello to an endless night of fun” and “Stay around for every twist of the ride.”

Rowe is the founder and co-chairman of the National Association of Attorneys General Youth Access to Alcohol Committee, which has been active in addressing concerns about the classification of beverages known as “alcopops” and “flavored malt beverages.”

In a letter sent Monday to trade bureau administrator John Manfreda, the attorneys general said that alcoholic energy drinks mimic nonalcoholic energy drinks that are very popular with youth. They warn that alcoholic energy drinks pose serious health and safety risks by causing intoxicated people to falsely believe that they can continue to drink and function normally.

In 2005, the bureau warned manufacturers and advertisers of alcoholic energy drinks not to imply that consumption of the products will have a stimulating or energizing effect. The warning has had little impact on the aggressive marketing campaigns for these products, Rowe said.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, alcohol is the nation’s No. 1 drug problem among youth. It is involved in automobile crashes, homicides and suicides, the three leading causes of teen death. In the 2006 Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey, about half of Maine’s high school seniors reported that they had had a drink in the past 30 days, and nearly 30 percent of high school seniors said they had engaged in binge drinking – consuming five or more alcoholic drinks in a row – in the previous two weeks.

“I am deeply concerned that alcoholic energy drinks will lead to even more aggressive binge drinking than we are already seeing,” Rowe said. “These new products are highly attractive and offer the promise of all-night energy.”

The attorneys general also requested an investigation by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau into the makeup of alcoholic energy drinks and flavored malt drinks, such as alcoholic lemonade and iced tea, to determine whether, based on the percentage of distilled spirits contained in the beverages, they are properly classified as malt drinks under federal law.

In Maine, retailers must have a special license to sell beverages with an alcohol content higher than that of beer, and the state charges a higher sales tax than it does for regular beer. But many states make no distinction, enabling cheaper and broader sale of these beverages and making them more readily available to young people than distilled spirits, according to Maine Assistant Attorney General Jessica Maurer.

Francine I. Katz, vice president for communications and consumer affairs at the St. Louis headquarters of the Anheuser-Busch Corp., which produces Bud Extra, responded with an e-mail statement Monday afternoon.

Katz expressed surprise at the focus of the attorneys general on “comparatively lower-alcohol products” when a recent report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates hard-liquor products are preferred by teens and young drinkers.

Bud Extra, Katz said, has less caffeine than a 12-ounce Starbucks coffee.

“Caffeinated alcohol beverages are nothing new,” she added. “For years, adults have enjoyed rum and Coke, Irish coffee and liqueurs mixed with coffee, even coffee martinis.

“The way to fight illegal underage drinking is not to limit product choices for adults,” Katz said. “Rather, the key is preventing youth access to alcohol.”

Anheuser-Busch provides training to retailers to help prevent sales to underage buyers, encourages parents to set rules and consequences for their children, and supports interventions by law enforcement officials, Katz said.