SAN FRANCISCO—On March 25, City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced that in an agreement with his office and 19 state attorneys general, the maker behind the alcoholic beverage Four Loko has agreed to sweeping limitations on the marketing of its drinks.
According to a press release from the City Attorney Office’s website, some provisions of the agreement include not promoting the beverages on college campuses, not depicting underage drinkers in their advertising, and stopping marketing practices that elicit rapid or overconsumption of alcoholic beverages.
“This is an important step toward ending the irresponsible marketing of alcohol to young people,” Herrera. “I’m grateful that we were able to get this industry leader on the same page with consumer protection offices inSan Franciscoand 19 states. The result will be better informed consumers and a safer, healthier marketplace.”
Through the agreement, “Assurance of Voluntary Compliance and Voluntary Discontinuance,” this resolves all investigations by signatory jurisdictions against Phusion Products, LLC, which is the Chicago-based manufacture of the Four Loko line. The settlement also includes Phusion Products, LLC paying nearly $400.000. The company has also agreed to halt using Santa Claus in its ads, not depicting any individual driving a motor vehicle while drinking alcohol and the depiction of their products being consumed by a person who shows signs of intoxication.
Four Loko products previously contained added caffeine, but Phusion stopped the production of such items in 2010. The company also agreed in the settlement to not produce caffeinated alcoholic beverages in the future. A clause in the agreement also indicates that Phusion will monitor its social media outlets to prevent and delete posts that are signs of irresponsible behavior.
Other states that participated in the agreement included Arizona, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Washington.
By LaDale Anderson
