Back in 2007, City Attorney Dennis Herrera led the charge against Sparks, claiming caffeinated malt liquor presented a danger to the public and was inherently marketed to adolescents. Those antics inevitably worked: in late-2008, MillerCoors announced they were removing caffeine from Sparks, making it an everyday beer that happened to taste like SweeTarts. He then went on a similar crusade against Four Loko that yielded the same results.
Apparently Herrera was not satisfied with companies only removing caffeine from their drinks, as today the now-mayoral candidate is going after Pabst for making fruit-flavored beer:
City Attorney Dennis Herrera today joined 17 attorneys general from U.S. states and one territory to call on Pabst Brewing Company to stop selling “Blast by Colt 45,” a highly intoxicating, supersized alcoholic beverage marketed to young consumers. The Woodridge, Ill.-based company launched the new product earlier this month in a colorful array of 23.5 ounce single serving cans and assorted flavors that include grape, strawberry lemonade, strawberry watermelon, and blueberry pomegranate. With an alcohol concentration of 12 percent, a single can of Blast contains the equivalent of nearly five servings of alcohol — which, if consumed within an hour, meets the standard for “binge drinking” as defined by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. […]
“Just as we're seeing real progress from companies and regulators to address the dangers of 'alcopops,' along comes fruit-flavored 'binge-in-a-can,'” said Herrera. “When people open a chilled, carbonated beverage, they tend to drink it before it goes warm and flat. That Pabst actually printed 'Please drink responsibly' on a 23.5-ounce can, with 12 percent alcohol, is just absurd. You can't drink it responsibly unless you throw most of it away. There's nothing responsible about 'Blast,' and Pabst needs to fix it.”
Is he next going to go back after Four Loko for selling caffeine-free tall cans of fruity beer? Perhaps ban wine coolers? And as SFist's Andrew Dalton says, “someone should ban pre-mixed Cosmos because they make dopey Cougars all violent and horny.”
