Just what we needed: another opportunity for young people to mess up their lives by binge drinking. And just what we needed: another alcoholic beverage that is packaged in a bright can with fruity flavors so that unless parents know or check everything going down their teenagers’ throats, they might think this is just a new type or a store brand of soda.
The problem product is called “Blast.” Check out a picture of it online, or even on Facebook where it is regularly advertised. Blast has 12% alcohol in it, which makes it a most efficient way of getting drunk, since one can drink one can and have the effect of having consumed four cans of beer. Four. Consumers don’t think that they have really ingested very much because 12 oz. doesn’t make them feel very full.
Blast comes in several fruity flavors such as Strawberry Lemonade and Blueberry Pomegranate. Hmmmm, they sound positively healthy, don’t they?
It is being promoted by the YouTube show rapper Snoop Dogg along with several beautiful models. Sure, the more you drink alcohol, the more beautiful you will be, right? Wonder how those same models would look after one or more cans of Blast, when they are wasted and acting ridiculous. Not very sexy, really, especially when they are vomiting.
The alert came out of Omaha, Nebraska on April 19, 2011 from a group called Project Extra Mile. "We call this binge in a can. It is portion distortion," says Project Extra Mile Associate Director Cassie Greisen. "It caters to the binge drinker and we know about 90% of under age drinking happens in a binge fashion.”
Project Extra Mile is concerned with the problems of underage drinking and they see this as a product that will end up in the hands of people who are not old enough to buy it, drink it, or handle it. They are fighting to have it taken off of store shelves so that kids will not end up using it.
The company that makes it, Pabst Brewing Company, which is the parent company for Colt 45 also, did not want to comment when reporters tried to reach them.
Their website does have a statement about responsibility that says, Drinking age is thinking age, and if you're over 21, you're old enough to take full responsibility for your actions. Using alcohol is a choice, so know your limits, and if you've been drinking, don't drive - anything."
That may be all well and good, but as most of us know, the problem is that teenagers don’t think things through to consider all of the consequences. Having a fruity soda-looking mega-alcohol binge in a can so available is not going to help.
