Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley asked Pabst Brewing Co. on Thursday to stop selling or alter their new alcoholic malt beverage that she called “binge-in-a-can” because of its high alcohol content.
Packaged in tall, colorful cans, Blast by Colt 45 is a 23.5-ounce malt beverage with a 12 percent alcohol concentration and is available in different fruit flavors. A single can of Blast is equal to five servings of alcohol, Coakley said.
“At a time when we’re fighting to prevent underage drinking and binge drinking, we are urging Pabst to rethink the dangers posed by Blast,” Coakley said in a statement, joining 18 state attorney generals who have come out against the product. “We also believe the promotion of this ‘binge-in-a-can’ is aimed at the youngest of drinkers as well as underage youth.”
The marketing techniques used by Pabst, which includes enlisting the help of social networking sites and the rapper Snoop Dogg to promote Blast are particularly upsetting, said Amie Breton, a spokeswoman for Coakley.
“The marketing is said to be targeted to the 21 to 29-year-old market, but if you look at the campaign and the packaging of the product, it hits a much younger age,” Breton said. “You could buy it for $2.50, it’s really cheap. Kids that don’t necessarily have a lot of money can just buy a can.”
“Blast is only meant to be consumed by those above legal drinking age,” a statement from Pabst read.
“As with all Pabst products, our marketing efforts for Blast are focused on conveying the message of drinking responsibly,” the statement said. “To that end, the alcohol content of Blast is clearly marked on its packaging.”
Blanchard’s Liquors, on the corner of Harvard and Brighton avenues, and Quality Liquors in Union Square are two local liquor stores that stock Blast.
Joe Gomes, a manager at Blanchard’s Liquors in Allston, said that the company was aware of Coakley’s request to Pabst, but had not yet decided if they would pull the product in support of Coakley’s call.
A manager at Quality Liquors who wished to remain anonymous said he was not aware of Coakley’s request to stop selling Blast, and was not sure what his store would do.
Most of the people shopping for alcohol on Friday that were interviewed did not know about Blast or Coakley’s action against the Pabst company.
Joe Wray, a 32-year-old mechanic from Brighton, said that he had not heard of Blast yet.
“It sounds kind of like Four Loko. If it is anything like that I’m not gonna drink it,” Mejia said.
Beth Canton, a 22-year-old student living in Allston, said she had also not heard of the drink, but said Coakley’s letter to Pabst could have an unintended consequence.
“I bet this is just going to give the drink more attention. A lot of kids will go out and start buying it once they hear there is something like Four Loko again,” Canton said.
Breton declined to comment on what Coakley’s next step would be if Pabst refused to change or stop selling Blast, but drew similarities to the FDA’s recent action against the makers of Four Loko, another popular and cheap beverage with a high alcohol content that was marketed toward young people.
Coakley, along with other state politicians across the country, took steps against Four Loko when the FDA stepped in and banned alcoholic energy drinks. The makers of Four Loko dropped caffeine from the beverage in November after an FDA study called caffeinated alcoholic beverages “a public health concern.”
Breton said that the packaging of Blast, in a can instead of a bottle like Pabst’s other high-alcohol content malt liquors, added to Coakley’s case against the product.
“The Colt 45 comes in a bottle and you can put the top back on and save it for another time,” Breton said. “This is in a can and is being marketed for drinking in one sitting.”
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