College Times

Anheuser-Busch officials have opted to halt the sale of Spykes – a high-alcohol malt energy beverage that came in fruity flavors – after the Arizona attorney general criticized it for being aimed at kids.

“(The alcoholic drink) appears to be tailored to the youth palate and to youth culture in numerous ways,” said Attorney General Terry Goddard in a co-authored letter signed by 29 state’s attorney generals and sent to Anheuser-Busch Companies president August A. Busch IV. “The product’s designation as a flavored malt beverage allows Anheuser-Busch to sell (it) inexpensively, and to distribute it, in many states, to grocery stores and convenience stores, where it may be more readily seen and purchased by underage youth than if it were sold only in liquor stores.”  

Spykes is packaged in colorful 2-ounce plastic bottles and can be consumed alone or mixed in with a beer. It contains 12 percent alcohol – similar to wine – and comes in four flavors: mango, lime, melon and chocolate. 

In addition to the alcohol content, the beverage features ingredients – caffeine, ginseng and guarana – that are typically found in energy drinks. This, combined with a wily marketing campaign, had the state’s attorney general wondering what kind of consumers Anheuser-Busch is targeting.

Late last week, Anheuser-Bush’s marketing vice president said that “due to (Spykes’) limited volume potential and unfounded criticism, we have ceased production.”

He said Spykes was introduced about two years ago in test markets, and nationwide in January, but had not performed to expectations.

Busch executives had argued the criticism was unfair because Spykes contained the lowest alcohol content in its product segment and underage drinkers prefer high alcohol content drinks.

The attorneys general disagreed.

“Advertising for Spykes touts the fact that it contains caffeine and other additives that young people are likely to associate with popular, nonalcoholic energy drinks,” stated Goddard. “The (Spykes) website features bright colors, club music and a variety of computer and mobile phone downloads, such as wallpapers, screensavers, instant message icons, and ringtones, all of which are likely to be highly attractive to teenagers.”

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