Attorneys general from Maine and more than two dozen other states asked federal regulators Monday to launch a probe into the advertising techniques of companies marketing caffinated beer-hybrids with slogans such as “You can sleep when you’re 30,” saying they are targeting underage drinkers. A letter written by the attorneys general to the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (which oversees advertising for beer, wine and spirits) named four products and three manufacturers suspected of skirting the rules. It also called for a broader investigation of the advertising campaigns that promote caffeinated alcoholic drinks. The letter, which comes on the back of regulation passed in 2005 that prohibited advertisements that implied the caffeinated alcoholic drinks were stimulants, or that the additives somehow offset the effects of alcohol, claims that campaigns for the caffeinated drinks Sparks, Bud Extra, Liquid Charge, and Liquid Core violate federal advertising regulations.
Please note: It is our humble opinion that, a violation of federal law or not, these products should all be banned for smearing beer’s good name through the mud!
