The brightly colored metallic 23.5-ounce Four Loko cans have come under fire again from federal regulators who are now claiming the beverage contains at least twice as much alcohol as their advertisements suggest.
The Federal Trade Commission said Phusion Projects, the Chicago-based manufacturer of Four Loko, falsely advertised their product as the equivalent of one to two beers and that it “could safely be consumed in its entirety on a single occasion,” according to FTC documents. However, drinking one Four Loko is the same as downing four to five beers, FTC spokeswoman Betsy Lordan wrote in an email. Although Phusion Projects denies the FTC’s claim, the packaging will change to reflect this and will also be resealable starting this spring.
Yet some students said the hard-hitting effects of the beverage — which was dubbed “blackout in a can” before energy-boosting components were stripped from the can’s ingredient list last fall — are already well known, and the can’s new labeling won’t steer avid Four Loko drinkers away.
“People don’t drink it for the taste, they don’t drink it to enjoy it,” said sophomore engineering major Kayla Park-Brouse. “They drink it for the effect that alcohol has on them.”
Four Loko’s new packaging will have additional label information comparing the 23.5-ounce can to the average 12-ounce can of beer, according to a press release by Jaisen Freeman, co-founder of Phusion Projects.
“We initiated the action out of concern that the company was engaging in deceptive marketing,” Lordan wrote in an email. “Deceptive [marketing] about alcohol content is dangerous to consumers and a high priority for the FTC.”
Last fall, the FTC and Federal Drug Administration required the company to remove caffeine from the alcoholic beverage after a public outcry deemed the combination dangerous to consumers.
“[The mixture of caffeine and alcohol] affects your ability to tell how drunk you are,” Arria said. “The perceived intoxicated feeling prevents you from engaging in risky behavior.”
Several students said labeling accurately can help students moderate their alcohol consumption.
“If a person’s going to drink Four Loko, they should know what’s in it,” said freshman engineering major Kevin Jones.
Additionally, the cans will feature “new can closure technology” to make the cans resealable, according to the press release. The FTC sought to allow consumers to “save some for later if they want to,” Lordan wrote in an email.
The revamped resealable cans will help consumers realize that the beverages should not be drank in one sitting, according to Amelia Arria, this university’s director for the center on young adult health and development.
“The FTC is asking for it to be resealable because four to five drinks is not one serving,” she said. “It would be understood by the definition of binge drinking as one can.”
Despite the FTC’s claims about the company’s misleading marketing, Phusion Projects officials stated in a press release that they never marketed the product as “the equivalent of 1-2 beers.”
“We don’t share the FTC’s perspective, and we disagree with their allegations,” the press release stated. “We don’t believe there were any violations.”
Junior business major Nina Shaw said people new to the drink will not take such warnings to heart, and that they are most vulnerable to the negative side effects.
“I think the risk of Four Loko is more pertinent toward people who have never drank before, and they think it’s just a can, which it’s not,” she said.
Phusion Projects declined to comment further on the matter. Owners of Number 1 Liquors, Village Pump Liquors, Parkways Liquors, Town Hall Liquors and College Park Liquors could not be reached for comments last night.
This episode marks the second time in a year Phusion Projects has taken heat from federal regulators for their product.
bach@umdbk.com
