Get the latest tech news

The electrifying rise and litigious fall of energy beer

What the heck happened to Four Loko, Sparks, and their buzzy competitors?

Energy beer, and Four Loko specifically, benefited from being some of the most potent bang-for-buck stuff in the gas station that was, thanks to its fruity flavors, still more palatable than malt liquor itself.The straightforward functionality of the product at rendering its drinkers dysfunctional was undeniable. Unlike malt liquor, the rise of which was almost categorically negatively covered by the traditional media due to producers’ aggressive marketing outreach to the Black community, Four Loko’s fans could and did tell each other about the high-octane hooch directly without ever even considering the ethics of doing so. In late 2023, as word spread on both social and traditional media about wrongful-death lawsuits that plaintiffs had brought against Panera Bread over its Charged Lemonade, people rushed to try it for themselves, attracted by the implied potency, the danger… and maybe the opportunity to mix it with liquor and recapture some of the chaos of getting tremendously fucked up on a drink that had everybody so scandalized, too.

Get the Android app