Campaign Blog
Attorney General Gansler Fights to Prevent Underage and Binge Drinking
Posted by Web Team on April 21, 2011 at 7:24 pm
Attorney General Gansler today asked Pabst Brewing Company to stop producing and selling Blast by Colt 45 – a new flavored malt beverage packaged and marketed as a “binge-in-a-can.” The product, its packaging, and its marketing targets youth, says Gansler, and Pabst should cease its production.
“At a time when we’re fighting to prevent underage and binge drinking, we call upon Pabst to rethink the dangers posed by Blast,” said Attorney General Gansler.
Earlier this month, Pabst introduced Blast by Colt 45 in four fruit flavors -- grape, strawberry lemonade, strawberry watermelon, and blueberry pomegranate -- with an alcohol concentration of 12%. Blast comes in brightly colored 23.5 ounce single serving cans. Each single serving contains the equivalent of nearly five servings of alcohol.
Public health authorities define binge drinking as having five drinks in an hour for men or four drinks in an hour for women. Anyone who consumes a single can of Blast within an hour will have engaged in binge drinking.
In addition to offering Blast in youth-friendly flavors, Pabst has chosen as its celebrity spokesperson hip-hop/rap music artist, Snoop Dogg, who is popular among persons under 21 and whose promotional videos for Blast are accessible to viewers of all ages on social media sites such as YouTube and Twitter.
Attorney General Gansler’s letter to Pabst, signed by 17 other Attorneys General, urges Pabst to immediately and significantly reduce the number of servings of alcohol contained in a “single serving” container. The letter also asks Pabst to ensure that its marketing of Blast does not expressly or implicitly target an audience that is under the legal drinking age.
Pabst is not the only company to produce and sell these alcoholic beverages.
“I hope our letter asking Pabst to take swift and responsible action will also be heeded by other companies who produce these unsafe ‘supersized’ alcopops,” said Gansler.
For more information, click here or view the video below.
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Meet Doug Gansler
Since taking office, Doug Gansler has distinguished himself by prosecuting polluters of the Chesapeake Bay, protecting consumers from corporate and insurance fraud, safeguarding the public from gangs, and attacking the underbelly of the Internet. More
