"Alcohol abuse among young people is a serious and alarming epidemic," Madigan said. "A product like this only serves to glamorize alcohol abuse and promote binge drinking, threatening the safety of those consuming it."
The AG's letter, joined by 17 other state, [image-nocss] city and territory officials, details concerns over Blast, which she said amounts to a "binge-in-a-can." The 12% alcohol concentration of Blast means a single 23.5-ounce container is equivalent to drinking a six-pack of typical American beer.
Madigan said the promotion and marketing of Blast appeals to minors, with its brightly colored cans and fruit flavors and a marketing campaign featuring hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg.
The AG's issued their demand as part of their ongoing effort as members of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) Youth Access to Alcohol Committee that aims to reduce youth access to alcohol and spread awareness of the dangers of underage drinking.
Joining \ Madigan in sending the letter to Pabst were her counterparts in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Guam, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Washington, as well as the San Francisco city attorney.
The AG's action is the latest step in her ongoing effort to protect young people from harmful products, she said. In 2008, Madigan and the AGs of 12 other states and the San Francisco city attorney initiated investigations of the two leading manufacturers of alcoholic energy drinks at that time, MillerCoors Brewing and Anheuser-Busch Inc., which resulted in a halting the beverages' production.
In 2007, Madigan urged the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau to increase its efforts to prevent misleading claims by alcoholic energy drink manufacturers. Similarly, Madigan joined other AGs that same year urging Anheuser-Busch to change its advertising of another alcoholic energy drink, Spykes, and the company pulled the drink from store shelves.
She has also taken action to stop companies from using illicit drug culture themes to market nonalcoholic energy drinks to young people. In 2008, Madigan demanded that Las Vegas Kingpin Concepts Inc. discontinue its cocaine-themed energy drink named "Blow," a drink mix that glorified drug culture and raised serious health concerns due to its high caffeine content. Kingpin agreed to cease sales of the product in Illinois. Madigan reached a similar agreement in 2007 with the California-based Redux Beverages LLC, for its distribution of an energy drink named "Cocaine."
Additionally, in 2006, Madigan and 38 other AGs entered a settlement with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to end its sale of candy-, fruit- and alcohol-flavored cigarettes that the group allegedly targeted mainly to youth.
Click here to read the full letter to Pabst.
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