MillerCoors will remove caffeine and other stimulants from its line of Sparks alcoholic energy drinks under an agreement reached with the attorneys general of 13 states, including Maine.
The states alleged that the drinks were marketed to minors and gave the impression that people could drink while avoiding the depressant effects of alcohol. As part of the agreement, MillerCoors continued to deny the allegations but agreed to change the drink's formula and alter how the company markets the product.
The agreement marks the second success that the attorneys general have had in their effort to get certain drinks off the market. In June, Anheuser-Busch InBev agreed to take caffeine and stimulants out of its Tilt and Bud Extra brands of alcoholic drinks.
Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe said that with the agreement by MillerCoors, 85 percent of the caffeinated alcoholic drinks will be off the market. The group said it will go after the rest.
Rowe said the drinks, which he called "amped-up alcopops," give consumers the false impression that they can drink alcohol but counter its effects through the stimulants.
The combination of alcohol and caffeine is "a recipe for disaster, particularly in the hands of young people," Rowe said, because it gives drinkers the "belief that they can function normally."
In a conference call Thursday morning, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called the drinks "an insidious and insane product that is now down the drain."
Rowe said the agreement with MillerCoors is particularly important because Sparks is the best-selling premixed alcoholic drink in the country. It is sold under the labels Sparks Original, Sparks Light and Sparks Plus, and Rowe said a new version, to be called Sparks Red and containing a higher alcohol content, was in the works.
Rowe is the outgoing co-chair of a committee of the National Association of Attorneys General that focuses on youths' access to alcohol.
He said Maine began researching the drinks this year under the state's consumer protection and trade practices laws. The state alleged that MillerCoors made false and misleading statements about the health effects of the drinks and marketed them to underage drinkers.
Rowe said that was accomplished with advertisements that featured a bright orange-stained tongue, sponsorship of an air guitar champion, a Web site designed to look as though it had been created by a college freshman, and plus and minus signs on the can, suggesting a battery and implying a connection with popular energy drinks.
By Thursday afternoon, MillerCoors had taken down the Web site. The agreement calls for the company to discontinue making and marketing the caffeinated version of the drinks by Jan. 10, and it promises not to produce alcoholic drinks with caffeine or other stimulants in the future.
In a statement, MillerCoors said Sparks' formula, labels, marketing approach and sales were approved by federal regulators "numerous times," but it agreed to take out the caffeine and stimulants based on the concerns of the attorneys general.
"As a responsible company, we are always willing to listen to societal partners and consider changes to our business to reinforce our commitment to alcohol responsibility," said Tom Long, MillerCoors' president and chief commercial officer.
Long said allegations that MillerCoors aimed the products at underage drinkers were "inaccurate" and the drinks were marketed only to consumers of legal drinking age.
The company will sell its current inventory and switch to the new formula with no disruption in availability, he said.
Staff Writer Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at 791-6465 or at:
emurphy@pressherald.com
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