Iowa Judge: Jello Shots are a Beverage

News from Iowa City where an ALJ has ruled:

"There is no evidence in the record to support the licensee's argument that -- simply because vodka was mixed with Jell-O mix -- it lost its character as an alcoholic beverage," Lockard wrote. "While there might be some debate in another context as to whether Jell-O is a food item or beverage, in this context ... the Jell-O shots served by the licensee were alcoholic beverages."

Apparently the bar was fined $500 for Service to Minors involving a Jello Shot, in response to which it argued that Jello Shots are not technically an alcoholic beverage, as the gelatin is, well, a gel, not a liquid. Nice try anyway.

Alcopop Taste Test

Humorous rundown of a few hideous alcopop brands from Zug.com

My favorite quote: "It smells like Sesame Street the morning after the cast discover binge drinking and projectile vomit."

Also this great image:

Monster vs. Vermonster

The brewing community has been buzzing over a trademark dispute between Monster Energy Drink maker Hansen's Beverages and Rock Art Brewery in Vermont. Rock Art makes a barleywine called 'Vermonster' and when it announced plans to market outside the state Hansen's sent them a cease and desist for using their trademark on "Monster". Apparently, Hansen's has plans to enter to alcoholic beverage market. (Almost undoubtedly with an alcoholic energy drink, the difficulties of which I've commented on before.) Of course, Rock Art was already in the alcoholic beverage market...

It would seem that Rock Art is in the right. There is little risk of confusion or dilution of Hansen's mark. Monster's argument that 'Vermonster' might create the impression that Monster endorsed the use of the mark holds little water. Ben and Jerry's makes a Vermonster Ice Cream (Maple ice cream, roasted pecans and caramel swirl. Mmmm....) and Hansen's is not suing them. (And interestingly, B&J aren't suing Rock Art, in a very Vermont kindof way.) But defending a trademark dispute against a large corporation can bankrupt a small company. Yet owner/brewer Matt Nardeau decided to fight, and angry beer drinkers joined in. Calls for boycotts and angry letters to Hansen's appeared all over. Then Nardeau released this video which has 64,000 views as of 3:00, Oct 21st.



Apparently the parties have reached an amicable agreement, as of today Rock Art is claiming victory on their website.

The End of Alcohol Energy Drinks(?) And The Quiet Death of Zima

A week before Christmas MillerCoors issued this press release, and voluntarily pulled their alcoholic energy drink Sparks from the market. This follows a similar move by AB last year, in which that company reformulated their Tilt brand. With the two biggies voluntarily bowing out, this could be the end of alcoholic energy drinks. At least, for a few years...

What's interesting about this is that the breweries voluntarily agreed to reformulate the product due to pressure applied by state AGs, though they were not currently breaking any laws. Certainly any state could easily amend their regulations to prohibit pre-mixed caffeinated alcohol drinks, but that wasn't the case here. The big debate currently in alcohol law is whether and to what extent the "old" values of temperance and control still apply, and to what extent the free market should be allowed to take over. These drinks are products of the new millenium, and the question arises, "We have caffeinated soft drinks. We have malt-beverages. Why exactly can't we combine them?" The answer seems to be less in the black-letter law and in the original spirit of post-prohibition regulation: caution, and restraint. The jury is still out on the combined health and safety effects of alcohol and caffeine, but consumption of these beverages does seem to indicate a tendency toward excess. Particularly in the younger demographic. Which makes the states wary...

One gets the feeling from the press release, and a Sparks FAQ still up on the web (note to companies: "removing current content" from the website does not make it go away altogether...) that their big concern is that they will be prosecuted for marketing the product to underage consumers, hence the repeated denials of any such conduct. The fact that these energy drinks are quite popular among the highschool and college set certainly is a liability for them in that respect. It's interesting that Miller agreed to pay over $500,000 to the AGs to settle the matter, and is illustrative of the gun-shy tendencies of producers faced with the sortof legislative netherworld that alcohol advertising exists in.

On a similar malt-beverage note: in the last few months Zima went quietly into that good night. Not exactly breaking news, but I've been meaning to mention it. Zima will go down in history as a perfect example of what can go both right and wrong when introducing a new alcoholic beverage, and how companies should adapt to the demos that embrace their product, not try to force the product on an uninterested group. If men think Zima is a laughable girly drink, don't try to convince them to drink it. Here's a much better article on the subject from Slate. Here's another fun one, in which it's argued that the discontinuation will allow MillerCoors to "focus on more preferred brands like Sparks".

D'oh!

Alcopop stings throughout Florida

On December 5th the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco conducted a statewide sting operation on the sale of so-called "Alcopops" to minors. Investigative Aides under 21 were sent in to attempt to purchase malt-beverages (think Smirnoff Ice, Sparkz, Mike's Hard Lemonade, etc.) Naturally Miami rang in at the lowest compliance rate, 58%, with 14 'arrests' (actually a Notice to Appear, coupled with a stern talking to) out of 33 businesses inspected. The statewide rate was 76% compliance.

Alcopops are complicated, because they walk the fine line between targeting underage drinkers and meeting the demands of an emerging niche market. Also their dubious status as 'malt beverages' can have certain tax and advertising benefits, which is why there isn't actually Smirnoff in your Smirnoff Ice. Often, they are nearly indistinguishable from other energy drinks or soft drinks, hence the emphasis on education for the retailers in these raids.

The Lehrman Bevlog has an interesting post about some recent labels for one of these products, where the label of Tilt has switched from listing caffeine and guarana as ingredients, to simply 'natural flavors'. It's obvious that is to avoid the scrutiny being given to these drinks by state AGs. See this earlier post. The question remains, does this still have caffeine in it? And what about people who are allergic to it?

States try to pull the plug on Sparks

Apparently 25 states have asked MillerCoors to give up plans for an upcoming caffeinated alcohol drink called "Sparks Red". It seems that the AGs of those states consider an 8% ABV malt beverage loaded with caffeine, guarana, ginseng and taurine to be a "recipe for disaster".

Well, yeah. Obviously. Because the only thing worse than a drunk underage driver is a jittery, paranoid drunk underage driver.

But what is interesting about this is that it's not really a novel idea. Irish coffee anyone? Or take Vodka and Redbull, a popular combination out in clubland for years. By volume, (and I'm just guestimating here) it seems like you'd have much them same levels of alcohol, caffeine, guarana, etc. in a double vodka redbull as in one of these cans. Not to mention all the sweet sweet high fructose cornsyrup...

However, Redbull and Grey Goose don't actively market their potential combination, whereas it seems obvious that Sparks is aimed at a, erm, "younger demographic". Traditional ground for liquor control, and one that still has some cache. Alcopops, or "Malt Beverages", typically occupy a weird legal netherworld where they're not quite beer, not quite hard liquor, and typically taxed and regulated more loosely. Which is why Smirnoff Ice in the United States is a "Malt Beverage", taking much science and work to become beer that doesn't taste at all like beer while in Europe they just add cheap vodka to fruit juice. The demographics are typically youth oriented, and aimed at those who wouldn't normally drink beer but are in situations where something cold and fizzy and refreshing would be perfect. The wine cooler set. Sparks it seems would be particularly aimed at clubs and party situations. And teenagers like parties, right?

Another shot across the bow in the Alcopop wars, and one MillerCoors may lose. Anheuser-Busch was slapped for their underage marketing practices back in June for much the same thing.