Deceptive and Dangerous Alcoholic Energy Drinks
There is a growing controversy over the marketing of alcoholic energy drinks that many consider to deceptive and dangerous.
The Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association has created an ad program with the graphic to the right that illustrates how the alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions of these drinks can be easily confused. Critics say the packaging also confuses both those who sell the drinks accidently to minors and law enforcement officials who often find it difficult to determine the nature of the beverage.
Rosecrance in Rockford claims beer distributors design their products with flashy labels and bright colors to attract teenagers. Missy Godfrey with Rosecrance Health Network says, “They’re directly marketed towards youth. There’s obviously confusion with how they are presented. How they’re advertised, how they’re marketed. They’re looking at a ton of new ways to market them. They’re looking at text messaging. They’re giving free products at some of their events.” Godfrey says since both alcoholic and non-alcoholic energy beverages are stocked next to each other on store shelves, kids often get away with underage drinking. ~ WREX.com
I’ll be honest; I have purposely avoided this issue for some time because I really don’t see much of a difference between this type of marketing and that of traditional alcohol sales. Targeting the young, made to look hip and cool, stocked in the same stores… I mean get real, how is this any different from your standard can of beer? Yeah, I see their point, but if you want to take a bite out of underage drinking then society’s acceptance of drinking and drugging in general would be a much better place to start!
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Long before hopped up “alcopops” became popular alcoholic beverages have been marketed with the younger generation in mind. Imagine yourself as a sixteen year old raging hormone that loves to play sports when watching this Coors commercial from the 90’s.
I love-Football on TV-Shots of Gena Lee-Playing with my friends-And-Twins-I love Burritos at 4 am-Parties that never end-Dogs that love cats-And Twins-And I love you too!-(Here’s to Love Songs!)
Curious about the effectiveness of such advertising? Check out the comment below this video on YouTube.
omg this is my favorite beer commercial ever i think this is what inspired me to start drinking beer (haha i was like in seventh grade when it came out)
love this song it reminds me of summer ~ by bubblicious28
Seems to me that the reality of ubiquitous alcohol advertising, societal acceptance, and the absolute love affair pop culture has with alcohol and drug abuse is just being isolated to particular category by those worried about alcoholic energy drinks.
So what’s new about this list?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
There was a story on TV this morning about a Dad who had his kid taken away from him because he bought his kid a Mike’s Hard Lemonade at a Ballgame and did not realize it was an alcohlic drink. The kid was taken to a hospital and DHR was on the Dad hard, fortunately it was an honest mistake and the 8 year old is back with his family.
FYI – Screedler
Have you ever seen the root beer that comes in brown glass bottles and is usually sold in a six pack?
Hey pick up a sixer of that and some fake cigarettes (remember those?) and an 8 year old is all set for a night on the town.
The point is that I agree with TDA that this has been going on for a long, long time and targeting just energy drinks is asinine.
Good post.
That’s what was hip in the 80′s when I started drinking. Fruity, sweet and just the thing for young drinkers.
Sure root beer bottles look like beer bottles. But that’s “okay” stuff for kids in “bad” packaging. This is packaging so designed that parents, who an be pretty clueless to the subtle differences (see post #1), don’t know if you’ve got straight-up energy drinks or a loaded one. From a distance, it looks like all the rest. Some retailers have gotten confused and careless shelf stockers put the wrong stuff out on the regular racks. It’s all about taking a product teens drink by the gallon, wrap it in packaging that hides the real content. Common, that’s win-win for the teen who wants to get away with it and the manufacturer who doesn’t care who is drinking. Get the habit started early.