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It was Memorial Day when Durham Minister Paul Scott found Four Loko on a convenience store shelf.
"It looks like a Nehi can or any other grape soda can," he said.
But Four Loko is a Malt Liquor drink with 11 percent alcohol content. So Scott went home and logged onto the Web site listed on the side of the can.
"They interface with MySpace, YouTube," Scott said. "It concerns me because alcoholism is a problem in all communities and it really concerns me when you start using hip-hop music, hip-hop fashion and social networking sites that our children look at everyday to market a high-energy malt liquor."
But the makers of Four Loko disagree. Jaisen Freeman, with Phusion Projects in Chicago, said the can is extremely distinctive.
"I would ask for any product that looks similar to ours that's a juice ... I don't know of any that has the same kind of labeling or the same type of can," Freeman said.
Freeman said there's a clear "contains alcohol" label around the top of it and a "We I.D." label on the side, too. And they are mandated by the distributors to put it in alcohol sections of the store.
"If somebody's going to look for a juice, they're not going to go to the beer door to look for a juice," Freeman said. "If a product's next to a Miller Lite or Bud Lite, it's a beer. That's where our products are and that's where they're mandated to be."
Four Loko isn't the only beverage like this on the market. Others like "Joose" are also in those sections of stores, too. Scott has battled beverage companies before.
"We went through a situation like this a couple of years back," he said. "I protested - got something pulled nationally called Phat Boy malt liquor. They used similar marketing schemes trying to get the whole hip hop generation to drink their malt liquor."
"When I protested malt liquor in the 90s, we were talking about the posters that were on walls of the liquor stores. Now, they're on the Internet."
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Comments
By Crashj on 05/31 11:42 PM
Dear Disgusted!: Since when would a minister be on the taxpayers' payroll?? What makes you think ministers do not pay taxes??? Individuals make choices based on what they have learned that works for them - often based on experience passed on by people like ministers. You don't have to make it up as you go along. There are reasonable guidelines. I do agree that the protest here is pretty far out, however.
By John Anderson on 05/31 11:24 PM
This guy has way too much time on his hands. I don't want anyone telling me what I can or can't purchase. I have never heard of this product but hip-hop music is used to promote many products. I see P-diddy posters all over every liquor store promoting Ciroc vodka. It is the most popular music in the world right now. I am going to go buy one of these cans just because I can. That is the country we live. This guy needs to find something positive to do for his community and stop trying to make decisions for people.
By chris moscariello on 05/30 12:54 AM
who,s this guy trying to fool i dont really believe this man actully did not know what he was buying now we got ministers passing judgement on people i thought God was only qualifed to do that
By Disgusted! on 05/29 10:12 PM
God must be truly generous if he provides an income for people like the minister since he obviously has way too much time on his hands to actually have a job. Oh wait.... it's my taxpayer dollars paying for him to run around finding BS to complain about. He certainly doesn't have to pay taxes or actually work for a living. GET A LIFE! Read the can before you buy it. Turn the channel if you don't like what you're watching. Leave choices up to individuals and find something to do that actually contributes to the community.
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