It’s not fashionable to drink coffee while you’re getting drunk,” remarked Adam Wakefield from his home on Custer Street last week. He and thousands of other young Americans make up the large percentage of college students who combine alcohol and caffeine. Many of these students have been throwing back cans of Sparks, the alcohol-caffeine hybrid beverage, on a regular basis. Wakefield, himself, says that he has several each week. Depressants? Stimulants? It’s all in a Saturday night.

Unfortunately for the 26-year-old University Heights resident and other caffeine-swigging, beer-drinking students, what’s fashionable is on the verge of becoming what’s history.

The drink, which packs six to seven percent alcohol by volume along with more caffeine than a can of Red Bull, has been a top seller for the Miller Brewing Company since they acquired it from the McKenzie River Corp. in 2006. After recent allegations from dozens of attorney generals across the country, however, the manufacturer, also responsible for Icehouse and Olde English 800, is yanking the herbal supplements from its popular drink. As of January 10, the production of Sparks came to a halt, and Miller is preparing to churn out a non-energizing alternative, leaving the ginseng, guarana, taurine, and caffeine to drinks like Monster and Rockstar. The new product will feature a revamped advertising campaign that will appeal less to the younger customers whom politicians and parents across the country feel the drink is being marketed towards.

Sherri Darrow, the director of UB’s Wellness Education Center comments, “The alcohol energy drinks versus the energy drinks without alcohol were beginning to look more and more like each other and so that was a concern because it was like the Joe Camel stuff. Are you developing marketing to specifically lure underage people or young people to get hooked on certain things?” Sparks cans present consumers with a visual representation of something that looks more like an energy drink and less like an alcoholic beverage. According to The Marin Institute of California, the ambiguity of the containers that energy drinks and the relatively new breed of alcoholic energy drinks are packaged in makes it difficult for parents, law enforcement, and consumers to distinguish between them. It is also noted that the pre-mixed version of alcohol and energy drinks provides consumers with a less costly way of attaining the mixture, further suggesting that these drinks are marketed toward the youth. “The culture around them typically has them sneaking around for a few years before they’re legal,” adds Wakefield.

The cans are designed to resemble batteries. There are positive and negative signs on opposite ends of the 16-ounce cans connoting potential energy polarity. The majority of the can is silver and, depending on the variety, the top is black, orange, or blue. The black-topped can is called Sparks Plus, the “plus” referring to a higher percentage of alcohol by volume in comparison to the original orange-canned counterpart that contains six percent alcohol by volume instead of seven. The blue-topped can is the company’s “light” version, which is a sugar free version of the original. With such a provocative packaging design, Sparks cans stray from the manufacturer’s typical fare. Such variation fuels the argument that this particular product is, indeed, being marketed toward a younger crowd. David Starr, a 23-year-old resident of the Town of Tonawanda remarks, “I highly doubt you will ever see a grown man trading in his Old Milwaukee for a can of Sparks.”

“Alcopops,” as they are commonly called, are nothing new. Malt beverages chock-full of sugary additives have survived for generations, from the days of Red Berry Champale to the coolers packed with Mike’s Hard Lemonade that have plagued graduation party after graduation party since they hit the market in the late 90s. The difference here is the addition of a variety of stimulants to the typical “alcopop” formula. Many critics feel that the packaging of Sparks, along with what may be considered good-timed capitalizing on the energy-drink trend that appeals to minors, has gone a little too far.

“I think alcohol in general will always appeal to a younger audience,” said Wakefield, who plays bass in the local rock group, Iceberg. While he does feel that Miller’s decision is understandable, he continued, “I feel the drink was marketed in the spirit of the energy drink movement of the last few years.” A research study featured in Academic Emergency Medicine quantifies the phenomenon, stating that 24 percent of college students drink beverages that combine energy drinks with alcohol. Recent evidence from this study shows that students who drink alcoholic beverages mixed with caffeine are also at a higher risk for committing violent acts or driving while intoxicated that those who drink strictly alcoholic drinks. The consumption of caffeine also leads to increased risk-taking behaviors, which might manifest themselves negatively in the behavior of younger drinkers under the influence of added alcohol. Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo is especially concerned because the fruity, sugary taste of Sparks combined with the added caffeine obscures the effects of the alcohol so that young drinkers don’t recognize the point at which they become intoxicated. Darrow agrees, saying “The energy part of it theoretically kind of masks the effects of the alcohol, which doesn’t necessarily help the person if they’re gonna try to drive or be responsible or anything like that.”

Although Anheuser-Busch discontinued the sale of their own energy-alcohol cocktails, Tilt and Bud Extra, this past June the Miller Brewing Company did not follow immediately in their footsteps. “As a responsible company, we are always willing to listen to societal partners and consider changes to our business to reinforce our commitment to alcohol responsibility,” Miller president Tom Long said in a company news release. While, after investigation, the company was not found to have acted illegally, a settlement was agreed upon between the Miller Company and 13 state attorney generals, including Cuomo who wanted the product off of New York State shelves.

Alcohol and the herbal stimulants that are added to energy drinks are all examples of drugs that act on the body of the consumer. This simple fact is often overlooked due to their over-the-counter nature. It is important for anyone who uses these substances to weigh the risks and benefits of their usage alone, or in conjunction with other drugs. “We live in a society where we use drugs for everything,” says Darrow, “and very often it doesn’t really add to people’s health, and just by saying there’s guarana or other herbal things in it doesn’t really make it better, right?”