Blumenthal Wants Federal Guidelines On ‘Dangerously Deceptive’ Ad Claims

HARTFORD — Attorney General Richard Blumenthal July 10 called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to stop dangerous and deceptive claims about Wide Eye — the latest alcoholic energy drink appealing to young drinkers — including the drink’s name.

As chairman of the Attorneys General task force seeking to stop alcoholic energy drinks, Blumenthal committed to fight this drink, just as he has other alcoholic energy drinks that create wide-eyed drunks.

“The maker of this dangerous drink has eyes wide shut — failing to see that it’s creating wide-eyed drunks,” Mr Blumenthal said. “The manufacturer should agree to cease making this drink, as MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch have done with their alcoholic energy drinks at our urging.”

In a letter joined by Maine and Maryland, Mr Blumenthal urged the FTC to strengthen a proposed agreement with Constellation Brands, producer of the Wide Eye drink, to prohibit deceptive marketing of drinks that may mislead young drinkers into believing that caffeine counteracts alcohol.

The drink’s marketing, particularly targeting young drinkers, includes claims such as “Wake up @ Wide Eye”; “I am your wake up call”’ “When you party with the world’s first caffeinated schnapps it’ll seem like the rest of the world is sleepwaking through life”; and “Wide Eye is about waking up to life.”

The FTC has alleged that Constellation Brands made false claims that Wide Eye will keep consumers alert, despite its alcoholic content. In a proposed consent order with the company, the FTC would generally prohibit claims that Wide Eye will keep consumers alert or counteract the alcohol effects.

However, Mr Blumenthal said the FTC’s agreement fails to specify prohibited marketing practices or require outright warnings that stimulants do not counteract the effects of alcohol consumption.

Mr Blumenthal urged the FTC to revise and strengthen its order to prohibit specific misleading marketing practices, including the drink’s name — Wide Eye — which falsely suggests that the product will keep consumers awake and alert.

“The FTC needs to open its eyes to see that its agreement fails to stop dangerously deceptive marketing of alcoholic energy drinks to young consumers,” Mr Blumenthal said. “We are calling for a stronger, safer agreement with Constellation Brands to stop misleading marketing of Wide Eye, starting with its name.

“Alcoholic energy drinks — mimicking popular nonalcoholic beverages that target youth — dangerously deceive young drinkers by masking the effects of alcohol. Young alert drunks are no safer — indeed, they are more dangerous —because they may falsely believe that they are capable of driving or drinking more.

“We successfully stopped other beverage companies from marketing alcoholic energy beverages appealing to young drinkers, including Spykes, Sparks, Tilt and Bud Extra,” the AG said. “I am hopeful that Constellation Brands will follow the lead of Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors, which both recognized their responsibility to stop selling drinks that may mislead consumers, particularly young drinkers.”