Attorneys general urge FTC to limit alcohol content in Four Loko

Yesterday, 34 state attorneys general, including Washington's, and the San Francisco city attorney, filed comments responding to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)'s proposed settlement with the makers of Four Loko regarding deceptive marketing of the flavored malt beverage.

The FTC was commended for recognizing that the marketing of these super-sized drinks as single servings is misleading because one can contains the alcohol equivalent of almost five beers. The FTC was also called on to adopt additional measures to address the safety risks presented by Four Loko, such as limiting its alcohol content to no more than two servings of alcohol per can.

Alcohol industry's self regulation of marketing to youth to be studied

The Federal Trade Commission plans to begin a study of the self-regulatory efforts of the alcoholic beverage industry. This will serve as the basis for the FTC’s fourth major report on the effectiveness of voluntary industry guidelines for reducing advertising and marketing to underage audiences by beer, wine, and distilled spirits manufacturers.


In response, the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) released a statement that included:

The FTC last looked at this issue in 2008. Since then, CAMY has released several reports showing the inadequacy of the industry’s current threshold for placing advertising that reaches underage audiences. Our most recent TV report found that youth exposure to alcohol advertising in that medium actually increased faster than either young adult (ages 21 to 34) or adult exposure since the adoption of the industry’s current standard. While monitoring industry’s compliance with their advertising codes is welcome, the current standards do not protect young people from overexposure to alcohol advertising.