Anheuser-Busch discontinuing Tilt, Bud Extra, all alcoholic energy drinks

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New York Attorney General's Office press release on multi-state attorneys general effort to stop marketing of alcoholic energy drinks--Anheuser-Busch agreed, and the states are also investigating all other alcoholic energy drink manufacturers:

Department of Law
120 Broadway
New York, NY 10271
212-416-8060

For Immediate Release:
New York City Press Office / 212-416-8060
Albany Press Office / 518-473-5525
nyag.pressoffice@oag.state.ny.us (nyag.pressoffice@oag.state.ny.us)

Department of Law
The State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
518-473-5525

June 26, 2008

ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO ANNOUNCES ANHEUSER-BUSCH WILL STOP SELLING ALL ALCOHOLIC ENERGY DRINKS

Investigation Finds Company was Illegally Marketing Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages to Consumers Under 21

NEW YORK, NY (June 26, 2008) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that Anheuser-Busch will stop selling all caffeinated alcohol beverages after an investigation showed the company was illegally marketing these drinks to young people. As a result of an agreement reached by Attorney General Cuomo and other Attorneys General across the nation, Anheuser-Busch will no longer produce caffeinated “Tilt,” “Bud Extra,” or other alcoholic energy drinks.

The Attorney General’s investigation revealed that Anheuser-Busch was making false or misleading statements about the health and energizing effects of Tilt and Bud Extra. Furthermore, the company’s advertisements were being directed to consumers under the age of 21.

“Drinking is not a sport, a race, or an endurance test. Adding alcohol to energy drinks sends exactly the wrong message about responsible drinking, most especially to young people,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “This agreement keeps these dangerous products off our shelves and makes it clear that targeting underage consumers with advertisements for alcohol will not be tolerated.”

Caffeinated alcoholic beverages, which taste and look like popular non-alcoholic energy drinks, are popular with young people. Aggressive marketing campaigns reinforce the common misconception that the caffeine in the drinks will counteract the effects of the alcohol.

As a result of the agreement, Anheuser-Busch will no longer produce caffeinated “Tilt” and “Bud Extra,” and will cease selling all alcoholic energy drinks nationwide. The company will also pay $200,000 to be distributed among the participating states to cover costs of the investigation and to be used for public programs.

In addition to New York, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, and Ohio were involved in the investigation. The states are conducting ongoing investigations into other producers of alcoholic energy drinks.

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California Attorney General press release on the multi-state agreement, with more information on the required marketing changes:

News Release June 26, 2008

For Immediate Release
Contact: Gareth Lacy (916) 324-5500


Print Version (http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/print_release.php?id=1583)
Attachments (http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=1583&#attachments)

Anheuser-Busch Ends Alcoholic Energy Drink Sales

SACRAMENTO - California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today joined ten states in announcing that Anheuser-Busch will discontinue its popular alcoholic energy drinks, including Tilt and Bud Extra, and will not produce any caffeinated alcohol beverages in the future.

“Anheuser-Busch, the largest brewing company in the United States, has taken an important action to protect young people from attractive alcohol advertising and marketing,” Attorney General Brown said. “Other major alcohol manufacturers should follow Anheuser-Busch’s lead and eliminate dangerous combinations of caffeine and alcohol from the marketplace.”

Alcoholic energy drinks are prepackaged beverages that combine alcohol and caffeine, guarana, taurine, ginseng and other ingredients associated with non-alcoholic energy drinks. Brown asserts that Anheuser-Busch marketed Bud Extra and Tilt in violation of state consumer protection statues by:

• Making misleading health-related statements about allegedly energizing effects of Bud Extra including increased strength and increased ability to stay up all night after drinking the products
• Failing to disclose its effects on consumers, and ignoring potential consequences of drinking alcoholic beverages that are combined with caffeine or other stimulants
• Directing advertisements of Tilt and Bud Extra to consumers under the age of 21

In November 2007, researchers at Wake Forest University of Medicine found that the combination of caffeine and alcohol sends mixed signals to the nervous system, causing the effect of a “wide awake drunk.” Students who consumed these energy drink ****tails were twice as likely to be involved in alcohol-related accidents and injuries than when drinking alcohol alone. The combination of alcohol and caffeine can be dangerous because individuals may not feel impaired even when blood alcohol levels are very high.

California, along with ten other states, asserted that Anheuser-Busch made misleading health-related statements about the energizing effects of its caffeinated alcohol beverages. Marketing that promoted the alleged energy component of the drinks made the drinks appealing to teens. The company advertised Bud Extra with taglines such as “You can sleep when you’re 30” and “Say hello to a night of fun” and utilized MySpace, YouTube, and other Internet sites popular with underage youth.

In addition, the packaging for many of the alcoholic energy drinks was similar to that for non-alcoholic energy drinks, leading to retailer and parent confusion.

Anheuser-Busch cooperated during the investigation and agreed to reformulate its products to exclude caffeine. As part of the agreement, Anheuser-Busch will discontinue two of its popular alcoholic energy drinks, Tilt and Bud Extra, and will not produce any caffeinated alcohol beverages in the future. Under the agreement the company will:

• Stop manufacturing and marketing all caffeinated alcoholic beverages, including Bud Extra and Tilt as currently formulated
• Reformulate its alcoholic energy drinks so that they do not contain caffeine or other stimulants that are metabolized as caffeine, such as Guarana
• Eliminate all references in advertising to caffeinated formulations and remove any reference to using Bud Extra and Tilt as mixers for other drinks.

Anheuser-Busch also agrees to immediately discontinue the current Tilt website www.tiltthenight.com (http://www.tiltthenight.com/) without hyper linking or directing visitors to a new site. Any new Website may only to promote the reformulated Tilt without caffeine.

Other states which joined California in reaching an agreement with Anheuser-Busch include: Arizona, Conneticut, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, New York and Ohio. A copy of the multi-state agreement is attached.

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Illinois Attorney General press release with some information from a Wake Forest University study that shows students consuming alcoholic energy drinks have twice as many weekly episodes of drunkenness:

For Immediate Release

June 26 , 2008 Media Contact: Robyn Ziegler

312-814-3118
rziegler@atg.state.il.us (rziegler@atg.state.il.us)

MADIGAN, OTHER ATTORNEYS GENERAL SUCCEED AT ENDING MANUFACTURE AND SALE OF ALCOHOLIC ENERGY DRINKS BY ANHEUSER-BUSCH

Attorney General Calls on Other Manufacturers to Cease “Alcopop” Production and Sales


Chicago — Attorney General Lisa Madigan today announced that the 11-state Attorney General investigation into Anheuser-Busch sales tactics for alcohol energy drinks has successfully resulted in the company discontinuing the manufacture, marketing and sale of its two popular pre-mixed alcoholic energy drinks, Tilt and Bud Extra. The company also will cease future production of caffeinated alcoholic beverages. The investigation, in which Madigan’s office participated, questioned whether Anheuser-Busch made false or misleading health-related statements about the energizing effects of Tilt and Bud Extra.

“Anheuser-Busch has made the right decision to pull these potentially dangerous beverages from the market, and I urge other manufacturers to follow its lead to get all caffeinated alcoholic beverages off store shelves,” Attorney General Madigan said. “I am concerned these drinks are extremely dangerous in the hands of young people. They contain substantially more caffeine than coffee or soda and are marketed to be consumed in combination with other alcoholic beverages. This is an inappropriate message to send consumers, especially younger audiences.”
The investigation looked at Anheuser-Busch’s aggressive marketing campaigns for Tilt and Bud Extra. These highly caffeinated “alcopops” are popular with young people, who often incorrectly believe that the caffeine in the drinks will counteract the effects of the alcohol. While Anheuser-Busch denied the allegations, it fully cooperated with the investigation and quickly decided to reformulate Tilt and Bud Extra without caffeine or other stimulants.

“Alcohol mixed with high amounts of caffeine is a recipe for disaster, particularly in the hands of young people,” said Maine Attorney General Steve Rowe, Chair of the National Association of Attorneys General Youth Access to Alcohol Committee. “The caffeine gives drinkers the subjective belief that they function without impairment. This false belief results in the potential for increased serious harm.”

Attorney General Madigan said the dangerous combination of caffeine and alcohol raise the risk for injury and unhealthy drinking habits. A recently study by Dr. Mary Claire O’Brien of Wake Forest University found that college students who mix alcohol and energy drinks engage in increased heavy episodic drinking and have twice as many episodes of weekly drunkenness. College students who reported consuming alcohol mixed with energy drinks also had significantly higher prevalence of alcohol-related consequences, like s e x ual assault and injury.

Attorney General Madigan’s office participated in the investigation with Attorneys General in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, New York and Ohio.

The Attorney General’s negotiations with Anheuser-Busch are only her latest steps to protect young people from the marketing of harmful products.

In August 2007, Madigan signed on to a letter urging the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), the federal agency responsible for monitoring marketing of alcohol, to increase its efforts to prevent misleading claims by alcoholic energy drinks. Similarly, in May 2007, Madigan joined other Attorneys General in urging Anheuser-Busch to adjust its advertising of another alcoholic energy drink, called Spykes. In response, Anheuser-Busch pulled Spykes from stores. Madigan also signed on a letter urging Anheuser-Busch to require additional information for verification before visitors may access one of its popular product websites; the company installed an age verification program on its site so that visitors must provide first and last names, zip code, and date of birth.

Madigan has also taken action to protect young people from the marketing of non-alcoholic energy drinks as illicit drugs. In May, the Attorney General demanded the Las Vegas company Kingpin Concepts, Inc., discontinue its cocaine-themed marketing and sale of an energy drink named “Blow,” a drink mix that glorifies drug culture and has raised serious health concerns due to its high caffeine content. Kingpin has agreed to cease sales of the product in Illinois. In May 2007, Madigan reached a similar agreement with the California-based Redux Beverages, LLC, for its distribution of an energy drink named “Cocaine.”

Additionally, in October 2006, Madigan and the attorneys general of 38 other states and jurisdictions entered a settlement with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) to end its sale of candy, fruit and alcohol flavored cigarettes that the Attorneys General believe had been targeted at youth. Madigan is currently in mediation with RJR over the Attorney General’s claim that its use of cartoons in its advertisements is a violation of the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). That agreement, which the tobacco industry signed to end the national tobacco litigation, expressly prohibits the use of cartoons to advertise or promote cigarettes.